One of Ma'Khia Bryant's neighbors who allegedly witnessed the altercation leading to her shooting death claims that the cops had no choice but to shoot her because she was in "full attack mode."
The 16-year-old Black girl was shot and killed by Columbus police officer Nicholas Reardon on April 20 a mere thirty minutes before a jury read the verdict in Derek Chauvin's murder trial. The teenage girl reportedly called the police about a group of knife-wielding young women that were allegedly trying to jump her. When the cops arrived on the scene, they shot Ma'Khia four times in the chest. Bryant's neighbor Donovan Brinson, who pulled into his driveway right as the altercation was taking place, says he thought it was just a "girl fight."
"They were calling each other the B-word, so I figured it was just a girl fight," said Brinson according to the Columbia Dispatch. He says he put his dog in the backyard and noticed the yelling had not stopped from Ma'Khia and the other girls so he re-entered his home. When police arrived, Brinson heard four gunshots and saw his wife, Rachel, dive for cover. That's when he noticed Bryant's lifeless body laying on the ground through his laundry room window.
"It was violent and all just happened so fast," he said, revealing that he turned over surveillance video of the fight to police. Another neighbor, Ira Graham III, reportedly said that he thinks the cops had no choice but to pull the trigger. "I saw a bunch of cop cars coming down the street," he said. "I believe in truth and facts. Video doesn’t lie. She was in full attack mode." He says that the young lady in pink needed to be protected from Bryant, who allegedly charged at her with a knife.
Watch the disturbing video from Donovan Brinson's home security camera below at your own discretion, which has been censored not to show the graphic shooting.