Man commits Suicide by Cop when advancing towards Columbus officer with a kitchen knife
By: Officers were dispatched to the Creekside Place Apartments on North Nelson Road on Feb. 22 on initial reports of a man, Colin Jennings, 26, cutting himself and fighting a person who called 911.
The call came from a man reporting that his boyfriend was attempting to harm himself with a knife, according to a spokesperson for the Columbus Department of Public Safety.
Body camera footage shows the officers approaching the entrance of the building, and then Jennings comes out, and both officers are seen with guns in their hands.
One of the officers approaching Jennings is heard saying, “I’ve got lethal force.” He then yells, “Drop the knife,” to Jennings before the other officer to, “Get your taser out. Tase him. Tase him. Tase him.”
WBNS reports that the spokesperson said Jennings started approaching the officers with a large knife raised in his right hand and repeatedly yelling the phrases: “Shoot me. I want to die.”
The video showed officers telling Jennings to back up and drop the knife, but he continued to approach them.
One officer fired their gun three times, striking Jennings at least once, while the other officer deployed his stun gun.
Medics transported him to the hospital, where he later died.
No officers were hurt in the incident.