COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) 鈥� An Ohio police officer was indicted Tuesday on murder and other charges in the shooting of , a 21-year-old pregnant Black mother who was killed after being accused of shoplifting last August.
Young was suspected of stealing bottles of alcohol when Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb and a fellow officer approached her car. The other officer ordered her out. Instead, she rolled forward toward Grubb, who . The daughter she was expecting three months later also died.
A Franklin County grand jury indicted Grubb on charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault.
Brian Steel, executive vice president of the union representing Blendon Township police, called the indictment deeply disappointing. 鈥淟ike all law enforcement officers, Officer Grubb had to make a split-second decision, a reality all too familiar for those who protect our communities,鈥� he said in a statement.
Young鈥檚 family members called for the officer to be charged shortly after the Aug. 24 shooting. After viewing showing the officer firing the gun, the family called his actions a 鈥済ross misuse of power and authority,鈥� especially given that Young had been accused of a relatively minor crime.
In the video, an officer at the driver鈥檚 side window tells Young she鈥檚 been accused of shoplifting and orders her out of the car. Young protests, both officers curse at her and yell at her to get out, and Young can be heard asking them, 鈥淎re you going to shoot me?鈥�
Seconds later, she turns the steering wheel to the right, the car rolls slowly forward and Grubb fires his gun. Moments later, after the car comes to a stop against the building, they break the driver's side window. Police said they tried to save her life, but she was mortally wounded.
The encounter between Young and police was among of fatal shootings of Black adults and children by Ohio officers, and followed various episodes of police brutality against Black people across the nation over the past several years.
Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford said the department has started a disciplinary review now that Grubb has been indicted.
鈥淣o one at Blendon Township has passed any judgment on whether Officer Grubb acted within the law,鈥� the police chief said in a statement. 鈥淗owever, since people who鈥檝e been indicted may not legally possess a firearm, the indictment against him leaves us with no choice but to begin the disciplinary process.鈥�
The Associated Press
