COLUMBUS, Ohio — An attorney representing the family of Donovan Lewis is calling for reform and action two days after the 20-year-old man was fatally shot by a Columbus police officer.
Lewis' family and friends were in attendance as attorney Rex Elliot spoke during a press briefing Thursday discussing the impact Lewis’ shooting death has had on his loved ones.
In the early morning hours of Tuesday, officers were at an apartment complex in the Hilltop neighborhood to arrest Lewis on multiple warrants including domestic violence, assault and improper handling of a firearm.
Body camera footage played at the briefing, showing an officer opening a bedroom door in the apartment and immediately shooting Lewis, who was in bed.
According to Elliott, officers and K-9s approached Lewis’ door and demanded that he come out of the room. The attorney claimed Lewis was asleep before police officers arrived and had “no warning that CPD would burst into his apartment.”
Elliot went on to say that Officer Ricky Anderson, a 30-year veteran of the Columbus police department, opened Lewis’ door as officers were yelling for him to come out.
Anderson opened the door and “almost immediately” fired a shot at Lewis, striking him as he was getting out of bed.
The footage shows officers handcuffing Lewis and carrying his body outside of his apartment. The footage shows officers performing life-saving measures until medical units arrived at the scene.
Lewis was taken to Grant Medical Center where he was later pronounced dead.
“There was no justification for Officer Anderson to shoot an unarmed man trying to get out of bed as police officers were instructing him to do,” Elliott said.
Lewis appeared to be holding a vape pen before he was shot, according to Columbus police chief Elaine Bryant. No weapons were found. Elliot said Lewis was unarmed at the time of the shooting.
Bryant did not address whether police believed the vape pen was a possible weapon.
A probe into Lewis’ shooting death was launched by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
“While we support the investigation, there is also no question that the video tells us all – every single of us - exactly what happened in the early morning hours of Aug. 30,” Elliot said.
The attorney said the family anticipates filing an action against Officer Anderson.