Columbus police release body cam footage of Wednesday fatal police shooting on South Side
Columbus police released the body camera footage Friday of the officer who fatally shot a man Wednesday night during a chase for an alleged repeat protection order violation at a South Side home.
On Wednesday evening, a Columbus police officer shot and killed Jamie Overstreet, 36. The division will not identify the officer, citing Marsy's Law. Police say Overstreet fled by vehicle and on foot from police, and was shot while running with a gun in the Innis Garden Village neighborhood on the South Side.
Overstreet's death is the fifth fatal Columbus police shooting in less than two months, and was the first of two fatal police shootings within 24 hours in Franklin County.
What the body, dashboard camera shows
The videos, released Friday afternoon by Columbus police, begin as officers are searching for Overstreet for several alleged protection order violations. Around one minute into the video, the officers notice a vehicle matching Overstreet's description. Around two minutes in, they attempt a traffic stop, when the driver of the vehicle speeds up.
The driver of the black Chevrolet Monte Carlo then drives through a residential area, and police call off the chase after about three minutes. The Division of Police's helicopter found the vehicle and followed it from the air, police said.
The vehicle crashed near Parsons Avenue and Corr Road, police said, but the driver continued until it stopped at Marion Square Apartments and Overstreet continued fleeing on foot.
The body camera footage of the incident shows officers getting out of their cruisers in the Garden Village neighborhood and chasing Overstreet through a parking lot and walking path area. Officers order Overstreet to stop and freeze, but he continued running.
The officer who shot Overstreet then screams that he has a gun and opens fire while Overstreet's back is to officers and he is running away. The officer fired at least five shots, and it appears Overstreet was hit by several rounds and drops something before falling over.
Police secure a firearm, which can be seen in the footage on the walking path.
Police rendered medical aid until medics arrived and took Overstreet to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, where he died at 11:42 p.m.
Search for Overstreet over protection orders led to chase
Columbus police said the incident began around 10:40 p.m. Wednesday, when officers got a call about a man with arrest warrants related to multiple charges of violating a protection order at a home on the South Side.
The police response began when the Worthington Police Department contacted Columbus police and requested help in locating a vehicle driven by Overstreet, Columbus police said.
Worthington Police reported Overstreet had just violated a protection order at the victim’s place of employment in their jurisdiction, and that after previously violating the same order at her workplace, he had gone to her home in Columbus.
Worthington reported he had four warrants for protection order violations, and that he was listed as a “special situation notice,” because he had stated he intended a “suicide by cop.”
As Columbus Police respond to the victim’s home at the 1100 block of Rendezvous Lane, located off of Lockbourne Road, they identified the suspect’s vehicle leaving her neighborhood, which is visible in the body camera footage. Officers then attempted a traffic stop, when Overstreet allegedly fled.
Overstreet had three open cases in Franklin County Municipal Court for violation of a protection order, all of which identify the person he was trying to contact as the person whose home he went to on Wednesday night.
According to court records, Overstreet had called the person in October on a recorded line from the Chillicothe Correctional Institution, violating the protection order. After he was released from prison, Overstreet is accused of going to the person's workplace in Worthington and to the person's home on Rendezvous Lane on Aug. 11.
All of the charges are misdemeanors, according to court records.
Overstreet had previously been convicted of domestic violence in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, for which he received the maximum 18-month prison sentence, according to court records. He also was previously convicted of felonious assault and kidnapping for an incident in 2014 in which an Amber Alert was issued.
Those convictions prohibited Overstreet from having a firearm.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is leading the investigation into the fatal police shooting, in accordance with city policy. The Franklin County Prosecutor's office will present the case to a grand jury when the investigation is complete, which has been the office's practice for all fatal shootings involving police.
Two Franklin County fatal police shootings in 24 hours
Overstreet's death is the fifth fatal Columbus police shooting in less than two months, and was the first of two fatal officer-involved shootings within 24 hours in Franklin County. On Wednesday evening, 21-year-old Ta'Kiya Young, of Columbus, was fatally shot by Blendon Township police during an incident in the parking lot of the Kroger store at 5991 S. Sunbury Road just north of the Route 161 interchange.
The Franklin County Coroner's Office said Young was pregnant at the time of her death and the fetus did not survive the shooting. The reason for the shooting had not been disclosed as of early Friday afternoon.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating both shootings.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: What the body camera footage from Wednesday's police shooting shows
