COLUMBUS, Ohio — A fatal shooting by Columbus Police is under investigation by The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Police said a man charged at officers with a knife outside an apartment complex last week. Body camera footage was released by police Monday.

What You Need To Know

  • The officer-involved fatal shooting occurred last week 

  • The identity of the suspect has been revealed as 26-year-old Colin Jennings 

  • Under Marsy's Law, the officers' names have not yet been released

Police identified the suspect as Colin Jennings, 26, who died at a hospital after suffering gunshot wounds. 

The Columbus Division of Police did not identify the two officers involved because of Marsy’s Law. One officer is a 13-year-old veteran of the Columbus Division of Police, and the second officer is a 14-year-veteran of the same department.

Body camera video shows police responding to a 911 mental disturbance call, in which a man reported Jennings was harming himself with a knife and attacking the caller. According to the video, when police arrived, they asked Jennings to drop the knife.

Instead, he continued to walk toward officers and repeatedly told them to shoot him. Police said they both tased and shot Jennings because he was approaching officers.

Ken Coontz, Columbus safety support services administrator, said there are situations when a police response is required, such as those involving weapons or violence.

In a news conference Monday, Coontz said the apartment location was not flagged on their list for having many residents suffering from mental health, alcohol and drug issues. He mentioned there are always unique barriers that they need to address when answering these high-volume 911 calls.

Sgt. Rich Brooks with the Columbus Division of Police also discussed the response.

“Really, we don’t want to get someone too close with a knife with you because they can close that distance so fast,” Brooks said. “The average human being at a walk, it can close four feet in a half a second. So if they’re 30 feet away, they’re covering that.”

Stephen David, a community organizer with the Columbus Safety Collective, listened to the news conference and said there was a failure on law enforcement’s side for not flagging the apartment unit in its own system for having any residents who suffer from mental health, alcohol or drug issues.

David said there should be procedures in place without introducing police to the situation. For instance, he noted their organization is trying to put forth an agenda to get neighbors involved and learn de-escalation techniques. This could allow people suffering from mental health-related issues to receive resources and proper help. 

“I think we shouldn’t be limited to this but should get us to really look at how our city is investing money, and answering — or more importantly not answering — the call of community members to build a non-police response system to invest in call diversion,” David said. 

The Columbus Division of Police said its officers did the best they could in the situation.

The investigation is currently ongoing and is being conducted by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.