Casey Goodson: Family demand answers after police shooting

The family of a black man fatally shot outside his Ohio home has demanded answers, claiming he was killed for being a "young black man".

Casey Goodson, 23, had just returned from the dentist when an officer, identified as deputy Jason Meade, shot him in the back, his family said.

Columbus Police Department and the FBI has launched probes into the shooting.

The Franklin County Sheriff's Office would not comment on possible motives amid the open investigations.

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Mr Meade is "currently off-duty", sheriff's office spokesman Marc Gofstein said. "He's not coming back to work or doing anything for the sheriff's office and there's no timetable associated with it."

A post-mortem examination this week has ruled Mr Goodson's 4 December death a homicide. Nearly one week after he was shot, the facts surrounding Mr Goodson's death remain in question.

According to his family, Mr Goodson was shot in the back three times as he unlocked his front door and entered his home. He had just picked up some Subway sandwiches for his family. Nine of Mr Goodson's relatives were at home at the time, and his death was witnessed by his 72-year-old grandmother and his five-year-old brother.

"We are all destroyed," said Mr Goodson's mother, Tamala Payne, during a press conference on Thursday. "And we still don't have answers as to why."

"He was just a black man, coming home from a dentist appointment. He didn't do anything," she said. Mr Goodson was "full of life, and full of love", his family's lawyer said.

Law enforcement officials said in a statement that the deputy involved, Jason Meade, had been working as a member of a US Marshal's Task Force looking for violent offenders on the day he shot Mr Goodson. Mr Goodson was not the subject of this operation, and no other criminal investigation involving him has been disclosed.

During the operation, police said, Mr Meade reported seeing a man - Casey Goodson - with a gun. Mr Meade then pursued Mr Goodson before firing his weapon. No body-camera footage captured the shooting and no other officers were present. In a statement, authorities noted "reports of a verbal exchange".

A firearm was recovered from Mr Goodson, police said. Carrying a gun is legal in Ohio, and Mr Goodson had a permit allowing him to carry a concealed firearm.

"As black people in this country, our skin cannot be weaponised," said Sean Walton, a lawyer for the Goodson family.

During Thursday's press conference, the family's legal team cited Deputy Meade's history of disciplinary issues with the Sheriff's Office, beginning in 2007.

Records of Mr Meade's employment history include a 2019 documented reprimand after violating department rules regarding using a taser on a suspect. And after another undisclosed incident, Mr Meade was placed on "no inmate contact status".

In a written notice, removing Mr Meade from this status on May 2011, the chief deputy officer wrote that he hoped Mr Meade had "made a conscious decision to modify your behaviour".

Columbus Police Homicide Detectives have begun an investigation, which will examine whether or not Mr Meade was "legally justified" in shooting Mr Goodson. On Tuesday, the police department announced that the United States Department of Justice and the FBI would be joining the probe, launching an additional federal civil rights investigation into Mr Meade.

Columbus Police will "get to the truth of this tragedy", said Police Chief Thomas Quinlan. The addition of the FBI will "answer the critical civil rights questions being posed by the community".

At a press conference last week, Peter Tobin, the US Marshal for the Southern District of Ohio, said he believed the shooting was justified, US media said.

Once the police department completes its investigation, all evidence will be handed over to the local prosecutor's office for presentation to a grand jury.

Protests calling for justice after Mr Goodson's death are planned for 12 December. On Thursday, his mother said her son was a "peaceful man, and I want his legacy to continue in peace".

"I am calling for justice, and that is all I am calling for," she said.