There’s outrage over the shooting of Ta'Kiya Young, 21, in Ohio. She was black and pregnant, so you know there will be a media circus over this police officer-involved shooting. Young died at the scene from a single gunshot wound despite officers rendering immediate first aid. Additional medical assistance was also called. Young wasn’t just shot in the parking lot of a local Kroger store in Columbus. There was reportedly a mass looting event where several suspects stole items, including alcohol. Young was identified as one of the suspects.
When police approached her car, she refused to comply. She then attempted to run over a police officer who fired one round. Young’s family wants the officer fired and charged, of course, but when you try to run over cops, you will get shot. It’s not that hard (via Columbus Dispatch):
Body camera footage released Friday shows two Blendon Township police officers interacting with 21-year-old Ta'Kiya Young for about a minute before a single gunshot was fired, ultimately killing her.
That gunshot has caused ripple effects through the community for more than a week as Young's family grieves the loss of the woman, who was a mother of two young boys and pregnant with a girl. After viewing the video Friday, her family called the shooting a "hateful act" and "avoidable."
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In the video, a store employee can be heard telling an officer that Young, who got into a car parked kitty-corner to where the officer was trying to help someone locked out of their vehicle, had shoplifted. The officer goes to Young's driver's side window, which is rolled up, knocks on both the window and the windshield, and tells her to stop and get out of the car, while gesturing with his hand to get out of the vehicle.
Young partially rolls down the window and twice says "For what?" as she has a large tote bag over her left shoulder, which blocks her stomach from view of the officer. The second officer approaches the front of Young's vehicle as the first officer continues to tell her to get out of the car.
"I'm not going to do that," Young says.
The officer in front of Young's car has his left hand on the hood of Young's vehicle as Young can be seen turning the steering wheel. The officer has his firearm drawn in his right hand.
The video shows Young's vehicle moving forward, hitting the officer who was in front of the car, at which point the officer fires a single shot through the windshield. Young's vehicle continues moving forward until it hits the building.
At one point, shortly before the shot is fired, Young can be heard saying, "Are you going to shoot me?"
Here’s Police Activity’s description of the incident:
On August 24, 2023, Blendon Township police officers were assisting a driver locked out of her car in the Kroger parking lot on Sunbury Road. As the officers were helping, a Kroger employee pointed out to one of the officers that someone who had stolen bottles of alcohol from the store was -- at that moment -- fleeing. Store employees later reported that several suspects had been stealing items, but the other suspects had fled in other cars. However, this particular female suspects who had been pointed out to the officer, was in a Lexus sedan with no license tags parked in a handicapped spot right in front of the store.
The Franklin County Coroner identified the suspect as 21-year-old Ta'Kiya Young and confirmed she was pregnant. Young started the car. One officer approached from the driver’s side and ordered Young to stop and get out of the car. She ignored the order. Another officer came in front of the car and also ordered Young to get out of the car. Despite being ordered to get out of the car more than a dozen times, she refused to do so. Young put the car in gear and accelerated forward. The officer who was directly in the path of the oncoming car fired one shot through the front windshield. The car kept moving and officers ran after it for about 50 feet. It then came to a stop on the sidewalk outside the store.
Because the driver’s door had been locked, officers immediately broke the driver’s window so they could attend to Young and begin medical assistance. Officers also immediately called for EMS. The officer who fired the shot sprinted to his car to get a trauma kit, which he quickly employed. A passing ER doctor assisted. Young died at St. Ann’s hospital, which was the closest ER. The two officers’ names, ages and races were not immediately released. They are on paid administrative leave while the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation examines the shooting, which is standard in cases of police use of deadly force.
The footage suggests that this was a good shooting, but we’ll wait and read the conclusion from the Ohio Bureau of Investigation.
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