Police Officer Killed Victim Of Break-In

Friends, family angry as questions go unanswered; one man charged
By Allison Manning
The Columbus Dispatch
Jul. 22, 2012

Maybe if the police officer had arrived just a minute later, the young man would still be alive.

That’s what the friends and family of Destin Thomas say, after Columbus police confirmed yesterday that it was one of their own officers who shot and killed Thomas while responding to a 911 call he had made on Tuesday morning.

Police gave few details yesterday about what happened between the 21-year-old Thomas and Officer William Kaufman, a 17-year veteran, citing the ongoing investigation.

They said that Kaufman shot Thomas twice, in his hip and chest. Thomas died at the scene.

“The fact that they’re trying to justify it, no apology or nothing, (just saying), ‘Oh, we’re just doing what we were trained to do,’” said Thomas’ cousin Derek Harris, 24. “I didn’t know you were trained to kill the person you were supposed to help.”

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