Federal investigators are looking into the fatal shooting of Casey Goodson Jr, 23, after his family came forward with details surrounding his death that were not released by police. According to his family, Goodson was holding a sandwich, not a gun, and was shot in front of two toddlers and his grandmother while inside his home.
Goodson was shot on the north side of Columbus, Ohio on Friday. The Ohio attorney general’s office, claiming that the police asked too late, declined to investigate the case, leading the office of U.S. Attorney David M. DeVillers in Ohio, as well as the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, the FBI in Cincinnati, and the Columbus police to say they would join the investigation.
After reporting the shooting, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office turned the case over to Columbus police, as the Sheriff’s Office does not investigate their own in the case of fatal shootings. The police department did not release details until Sunday.
“My grandson just got shot in the back when he came in the house,” said Goodson’s grandmother in a 911 call, according to The Associated Press. “I don’t know if he’s OK.”
Goodson’s family and the police have been giving conflicting details around his death since the police released more information Sunday.
The deputy responsible for killing Goodson is Jason Meade, who had just finished an unsuccessful search for a fugitive Friday while part of a U.S. Marshals Office fugitive task force. According to U.S. Marshal Peter Tobin, Goodson drove past waving a gun at Meade.
Outside Goodson’t home, Meade demanded that Goodson drop his gun and, according to a witness, shot Goodson when he didn’t. Goodson died after being taken to a hospital.
However, Goodson’s family says that he was shot while inside his home, where his grandmother and two toddlers were witnesses.
The attorneys’ statement reads that Tobin omits “key details that raise cause for extreme concern,” including what exactly Goodson was holding. According to police, he was holding a gun later recovered from the scene, while Goodson’s family say he had been holding a Subway sandwich.
The Sheriff’s Office does not provide its deputies with body cams, and Meade’s SWAT vehicle did not have a dashboard camera. Visual evidence of what happened that day is severely lacking.
