Family Disputes Official Story in Police Killing of Casey Goodson Jr. in Columbus, Ohio
Police shot and killed a 23-year-old man in Columbus, Ohio over the weekend, claiming they shot him after he drove by them in a car while waving a weapon.
According to a report from The Columbus Dispatch, the Franklin County Sheriff’s office in Ohio said its SWAT team had been unsuccessfully searching for a fugitive on Friday when a young man—identified by his family online as Casey Goodson Jr.—passed by them in a car while waving a handgun.
At a press conference about the incident, U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Ohio Peter Tobin said the deceased was not the target of the search but was confronted by a member of the SWAT task force who shot him after he did not follow a command to drop his weapon.
But Goodson’s family members dispute that version of events. His sister, Kaylee Harper, said that her brother had been in the process of entering his home while holding a sandwich when he was shot by police.
“They are lying,” Harper posted on social media in response to the Franklin Country Sherrif’s office report of the so-called officer-involved shooting. “My brother literally walked across the yard, walked into the back fence to get to the side door, had his subway and mask in one hand, keys in the other.”
“Why did you kill a man walking into his own home? He just wanted to enjoy his Subway after leaving the dentist’s office,” she added.
THE POLICE HANDCUFFED MY BROTHER AND LEFT HIM HANCUFFED AS HE WAS DYING! PLEASE SEEK JUSTICE FOR MY BROTHER PLEASE HELP US !! ❤️❤️❤️ #justiceforcasey #sayhisname #longlivecasey
— kaylee 🌸 (@__kaybaeee) December 5, 2020
“Police shot him in the back three times through the door,” Goodson’s mother Tamala Cain said, according to a report from BET. Cain added that her son was licensed to carry a concealed weapon and had no history of trouble with the law.
Police have released little additional details about the incident, outside of saying that a 17-year-veteran of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office shot the 23-year-old and that they believe the shooting was justified. Officials have yet to publicly name Goodson as the victim, but say a police-led investigation will be carried out into the incident and that it will be presented to prosecutors and a grand jury in Franklin County for consideration.
Goodson’s family has launched a GoFundMe to help with the cost of his burial.
