Video: Columbus Moving Forward From Officer Involved Shooting

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Columbus, Miss. (WCBI) — In Tuesday’s city council meeting, Mayor Robert Smith and Interim Chief Fred Shelton made the decision to release over two hours of body camera video from the Special Operations Group involved in the Ricky Ball shooting on October 16th.

The unedited video will be released on Monday, December 21st on the city’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

“We want to show the public what was going on, what our cameras do, what our officers see…”, said Shelton.

Three Columbus police officers were involved in the shooting, and the video that will be shared is body camera footage from officers Canyon Boykin and Max Branch. The third involved, Yolanda Young, did not activate her camera the day of the shooting.

Shelton also said moving forward, the department will prioritize training officers on the body cameras and their proper use. Shelton added that the officers will check their body cameras, just as they would check their blue lights and sirens before going out on a shift.

The Columbus city council approved the consequences for body camera use and unauthorized ride-alongs. The council also approved to keep the citizen oversight committee that made the recommendations intact.

The citizen oversight committee drew many different opinions and arguments. The city council passed the motion in a 3-3 vote, with Mayor Smith having to vote to break the split.

Mayor Smith said the oversight committee “will not micromanage the police department.” He said it will serve as a liaison between the community, the city council, and the police department.

Smith also said there is also no timetable as of now as to when the F.B.I. investigation of the officer-involved shooting will be concluded.