A Franklin County grand jury decided not to bring charges against several Columbus police officers who shot and killed a man who walked toward officers armed with knives last September.
The Franklin County Prosecutor’s office presented the case of the fatal shooting of 34-year-old Lamine Mahmoudi to a grand jury. On June 13, jurors returned a “no bill,” meaning they chose not to indict the officers, according to Werth Public Relations, which is under contract to represent Prosecutor Shaylor Favor’s office. The practice of presenting cases of police-involved shootings to a grand jury has been the standard in Franklin County for years.
On Sept. 9, 2024, Columbus police responded twice to Mahmoudi’s home in the University District on a report of a mental health check. During both of those encounters, Mahmoudi declined help from officers.
On Sept. 10, 2024, just after 1:30 a.m., one of the officers spotted Mahmoudi in an alley near his home on Chittenden Avenue wielding a meat cleaver and a butcher’s knife, police said. Other officers drew their guns and can be heard on body camera video shouting out commands to Mahmoudi to drop both of the knives, but he ignores the commands.
A total of five officers shot and killed Mahmoudi. An autopsy report from the Franklin County Coroner’s office found that he was shot 13 times, The Dispatch previously reported.
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Grand jury declines to indict Columbus officers who shot man wielding knife, cleaver
Reporting by Shahid Meighan, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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