Peter Tobin, U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Ohio, said at a press conference that a fugitive task force that included marshals and Franklin County Sheriff’s SWAT members had just finished an unsuccessful search for a suspect on Friday afternoon when a man drove by, waving a handgun at a sheriff’s SWAT deputy.
Tobin said the SWAT deputy went to confront the man about the gun-waving. The man was already out of his vehicle and was told to drop his gun, a command heard by at least one witness, Tobin said.
When the man with the gun did not drop his weapon, Tobin said, the deputy shot him. The man, who was not the target of the original fugitive raid, was transported to OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, where he later died.
A handgun was recovered, Tobin said, but he did not say from where.
Tobin said he believed the shooting was justified. He said the Columbus police Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) will conduct an investigation that will be reviewed by the Franklin County prosecutor’s office. The matter also will be presented to a county grand jury for consideration.
Activists say Tobin’s narrative did not mention that Goodson was shot in the back or his family’s statement that he had a concealed-carry permit for the handgun.
“This was not justified,” Johnson said of the shooting. “He didn’t pose a threat at all.”
Aramis Sundiata, executive director of the People’s Justice Project, said Goodson was just living his life.
“He had a family … and was living his life as a person and was shot down by the police,” he said.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on the incident, citing the Columbus police CIRT investigation. However, the sheriff’s office tweeted that the deputy was a 17-year veteran of the office and assigned full-time to the U.S. Marshal Task Force. The tweet also stated that “the suspect’s weapon was recovered at the scene.”
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The People’s Justice Project shared a post from someone indicating that they are Goodson’s cousin and copying a post from his mother’s Facebook page. The post reads that her son was shot in his back three times.
She said he had food in his hands, was unlocking the door and walking inside his home when he was shot with his hands up.
About 40 people attended a Saturday night vigil for Goodson, hosted by the People’s Justice Project. They are demanding that officials release body camera footage, police reports and conduct both an independent autopsy report and an independent prosecutor’s investigation, according to the People’s Justice Project’s Facebook page.
Sheriff’s office spokesman Marc Gofstein said the sheriff’s office does not have body cameras.
