Did a police officer use deadly force on a 16-year-old girl with justifiable means?
The Death of Ma'Khia Bryant
On April 20th, 2021, Ma'Khia Bryant and her younger sister returned to their foster home after school and found Tionna Bonner at the house. Bonner was a 22-year-old former foster child at the home of Bryant and her sister. Bryant and Bonner had an argument over housework, and it led to both of them brandishing knives. Bryant's sister called 911 at 4:32 p.m, saying, "We got Angie's grown girls trying to fight us, trying to stab us, trying to put her hands on our grandma. Get here now!" Officer Nicholas Reardon was one of the first to respond to the call, and he entered a chaotic scene: "Hey. What's going on?" As Bryant pushed one of Bonner's friends to the ground, Reardon was heard saying. Seeing the unstable scene, Officer Reardon pulled out his pistol. Then, Ma'Khia Bryant, with a knife in her hand, lunged at Tionna Bonner, who was pinned to a car. As she reached with her knife, Officer Reardon fired four shots which caused Bryant to instantly fall to the ground. Bryant died at a nearby hospital about an hour after the shooting. Officer Reardon didn't get charged with any crimes.
Was The Shooting Justified?
While there is no way of telling the racial bias in Officer Reardon's thought process before the shooting, when analyzing the legal aspect of the officer-involved shooting, nothing points to an unjustified shooting. Law enforcement's job is to protect the people, and the officer can use deadly force to stop the threat when there is imminent danger to a person's life. When Ma'Khia Bryant brandished her knife and actively attacked Tionna Bonner with the threat of imminent danger to her life, it provided legal justification for Officer Reardon to shoot her with his pistol. Since Bryant attempted to stab Bonner, the fast-acting by Officer Reardon may have saved Tionna Bonner's life. And while many have argued that Officer Reardon should've used non-lethal force before using a pistol, unfortunately, he didn't have the time to change his weapon. The events transpired so fast that Tionna Bonner would've been stabbed if Officer Reardon didn't act quickly.
Additionally. some have argued that Officer Reardon should have shot at Bryant's foot to temporarily disable her rather than shooting at her back which has a more significant chance of being lethal. But when we look at police officers' training, we find out that Officer Reardon followed law enforcement protocol. Law enforcement is taught to shoot at a body's center of mass because it is the largest target and a bullet has the best chance of hitting the target. Therefore, when somebody's life is in danger, and an officer needs to shoot to protect others (like in the Bryant situation), it is imperative that the officer doesn't miss the target. If Officer Reardon had shot at Ma'Khia Bryant's foot or leg, he would've had a much larger chance of missing (especially with the significant amount of motion). If he had missed the shot, it would've most likely ended with the stabbing of Tionna Bonner.