Ohio Community Holds Vigil After Deputy Kills Black Man

A candlelight vigil was held for a 23-year-old man on Friday night (December 4) after he was reportedly shot and killed by police in Columbus, Ohio earlier that day.

The People’s Justice Project has identified the individual as Casey Christopher Goodson Jr, and posted pictures of the vigil on their official Facebook page. The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office has not yet officially identified the man.

Local news station ABC6 reports that the CPD are investigating the shooting that happened on Friday afternoon in which a Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy, who was working with the US Marshal’s Southern Ohio Fugitive Task Force, shot and killed the man they claim was waving a gun.

The shooting took place on Estate Place in Northeast Columbus. Pete Tobin, the US Marshal for the Southern District of Ohio, said the task force had just finished their work in the area when Goodson allegedly drove past them waving a gun.

“He was seen driving down the street waving a gun,” Tobin said, according to the outlet. “That’s when the deputy, at some point after that, he confronted him. And it went badly.”

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Police then claim that during the confrontation, the man exited his car and was shot by the deputy, who has not yet been identified publicly. He was subsequently transported to OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital where he later died.

The encounter’s details though are being disputed by the young man’s mother, who said he was returning home from the dentist and was shot three times in the back.

“Police shot him in the back three times through the door,” said Tamala Payne. She said he was licensed to carry a concealed weapon, doesn’t have any warrants, and has never been in trouble in his life. Authorities also say he had nothing to do with the Deputy and Marshal’s Task Force investigation.

Tobin says he believes law enforcement was justified in using lethal force, but noted that the deputy will be investigated by CPD and the Franklin County prosecutor’s office.