Ohio Officer, Who Fatal Shot A Black Man Lying in his Bed, Retires. But That’s Not All

Columbus police say Officer Ricky Anderson, the cop who shot and killed a Black man in his bed, has retired “in bad standing” upon the investigations into his actions the night of the shooting, per NBC News. His retirement also comes after the young man’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the officers involved.

Officer Ricky Anderson was one of a few cops who went to serve arrest warrants to Donovan Lewis, 20, on misdemeanor charges from a domestic violence incident, per The Columbus Dispatch. The body camera footage shows the officers knocking at the door, being let in by a young man and unleashing a K-9. Anderson then went to the closed bedroom door where the dog had run and opened the door pointing his flashlight and firearm. Within milliseconds of the door opening and Lewis sitting up in his bed, Anderson fired a fatal shot into his abdomen.

Amir Locke also had mere seconds to respond to the Minneapolis SWAT officers who burst through his living room, woke him up from his sleep and shot him after spotting his legally owned firearm. Before anyone speculates if Lewis had a weapon in his hand, it was a vape pen.

Following the shooting, the police chief revised the policy on serving late night warrants by requiring police officers to seek “high-level” permission to serve warrants between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. Anderson was also placed on leave but now he’s permanently lost his spot on the force.

Read more from NBC News:

Columbus police said Friday evening that Officer Ricky Anderson “retired in bad standing due to the ongoing criminal and administrative investigations into the death of Donovan Lewis.”

A police department spokesperson told reporters that retirement in bad standing means an officer will receive a pension but cannot retain a gun or police badge after leaving the force. Attorneys for the officer, who had been on the force for three decades, declined comment.

The Franklin County prosecutor’s office has said special prosecutors will review the state attorney general’s investigation and present the case to a grand jury to determine whether charges are warranted. The prosecutors said last month that reviews of use of force by law enforcement can be time-consuming and they sympathized with the frustration of the family, but they were “dedicated to achieving justice in this matter.”

Anderson’s retirement was a “coward” move according to Lewis’ family attorneys who have called for his termination and accused him of violating Lewis’ constitutional rights.

Retiring didn’t turn out to be the easy out it may have seemed because Anderson lost his police badge with the department. From this point, he can either take his pension and give up policing or take his chances hopping to another police department like some crooked cops do.