Ma'Khia Bryant was arguing about cleaning the house when she got into the fight that ended in the police killing her, her foster mom says

  • Ma'Khia Bryant's foster mom said the teen had been arguing over chores when she got into a fight.

  • A police officer who'd been called to the scene killed Bryant, 16, on Tuesday.

  • The foster mom, Angela Moore, said she learned what had happened from an urgent call to come home.

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Ma'Khia Bryant was having an argument over housekeeping before she got into a fight and a police officer fatally shot her in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday, her foster mom said.

Angela Moore told CNN that two of her former foster children had come to celebrate her birthday when the dispute started that led to the death of Bryant, who was 16.

Moore, who was at work at the time of the shooting, related what one of the former foster children told her had happened.

"The older one told them to clean up the house because 'Mom doesn't like the house dirty,'" she said.

It is not clear exactly what followed. Somebody - it's unclear who - called 911, telling dispatchers that somebody was trying to stab them.

Officer Nicholas Reardon was dispatched at 4:36 p.m. and arrived in less than 10 minutes.

The police released the 911 call on Wednesday. The caller said people were "over here trying to fight us, trying to stab us, trying to put hands on our grandma."

Bodycam footage showed Bryant running into the camera's view and pushing another girl to the ground.

Bryant runs past Reardon and appears to swing a knife at another girl in pink - CNN identified her as one of Moore's former foster children. Then Reardon shoots Bryant. She died in a hospital about half an hour later.

She had been in the care of Franklin County Children's Services, which had placed her with Moore.

Moore said her former foster child told her that Bryant had reacted badly to being told to clean up. Bryant was said to have replied, "You're not the guardian of me," Moore told CNN.

Disagreement among the youngsters is not unusual, Moore said. "They argue all the time, but I never thought it would escalate like that," she told CNN.

After the shooting, she said, she got a panicked phone call from one of the former foster children - the girl in pink - urging her to hurry back. Moore said she was told: "Mom, get home. Where are you? They're going crazy."

"She said they shot Ma'Khia," Moore said.

"I never in my worst nightmare would have thought it would ever come to this," she said.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is leading an inquiry into the shooting, and the police have urged calm until the facts of the case are known.

Reardon has been taken off street duty, Interim Police Chief Michael Woods said.

ma'khia bryant protests vigil ohio say her name
A message written on the ground during a vigil for Bryant. Gaelen Morse/Reuters

Bryant's death prompted a vigil and protests in Columbus on Tuesday night. Her mom, Paula Bryant, described her as "a very loving, peaceful little girl."

"She was 16 years old. She was an honor-roll student," she told WBNS-TV. "Ma'Khia has a motherly nature about her. She promoted peace. And that's something that I want to always be remembered."

-Complex (@Complex) April 21, 2021

Paula Bryant told CNN that Ma'Khia was a funny and loving child with a popular TikTok account. "I want the world to know that Ma'Khia was beautiful," she said.

"She had a sweet little voice," she said. "Oh my gosh, she was just so talented. She was ... on the path to going many places, definitely."

Moore told CNN that Ma'Khia was fun and loved dancing. "She did chores around the house," she added.

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