Ex-officer accused of murder in shooting of Andre Hill testifies he thought he saw a gun

By JOHN SEEWER The Associated Press

A white former Ohio police officer charged with murder in the shooting of Andre Hill testified Monday that he fired four times after he spotted what he thought was a silver revolver in the Black man’s hand while Hill was emerging from a dark garage.

Former officer Adam Coy said he rolled over Hill’s body, saw a pile of keys and realized there was no gun.

“I knew at that point I made a mistake,” Coy told jurors while fighting back tears. “I was horrified. It was the worst night of my life.”

Coy, who served nearly 20 years with the Columbus police force and was fired after the shooting four years ago, testified he thought he was going to die when he mistook the keys for a gun.

Police body camera footage showed Hill coming out of the garage of a friend’s house holding up a cellphone in his left hand, his right hand not visible, seconds before Coy fatally shot him. About 10 minutes passed before officers at the scene began coming to the aid of Hill, who lay bleeding on the garage floor. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Weeks after the December 2020 shooting, the mayor forced out the police chief amid a series of high-profile fatal police shootings of Black men and children. Columbus later reached a $10 million settlement with Hill’s family, the largest in city history. The Columbus City Council also passed Andre’s Law, which requires police officers to render immediate medical attention to an injured suspect.

Prosecutors have said Hill had followed the officer’s commands and was never a threat to Coy, who also is charged with reckless homicide and felonious assault and could face up to life in prison if convicted of murder.

Coy had gone to the neighborhood to investigate a resident’s complaint about someone in a running vehicle when he first encountered Hill sitting in an SUV. Hill told Coy he was waiting on a friend to come outside.

The officer said he thought Hill seemed dismissive at first and then suspicious after walking to a house and knocking on the door before entering the garage.

Coy said he lost sight of Hill and suspected he might be trying to break into the house. Coy used a flashlight to spot Hill in the garage and told him to come out and show himself, the officer testified.

When Hill walked toward him, Coy said he could not initially see the man’s right hand and then saw what he thought was a revolver. He said he yelled, “Gun! Gun!” and then fired at Hill.

Family and friends said Hill — a father and grandfather — was devoted to his family and was a skilled tradesman who dreamed after years of work as a chef and restaurant manager of one day owning his own restaurant.

Coy had a lengthy history of complaints from residents, with more than three dozen filed against him since he joined the department in 2002, according to his personnel file. A dozen of the complaints were for use of force. All but a few were marked “unfounded” or “not sustained.”