Surveillance Footage Shows Ta’Kiya Young In Store Before Fatal Interaction With Police

The police shooting of Ta’Kiya Young, which has garnered national attention, has an update: Additional video footage prior to the Aug. 24 shooting was released by the Blendon Township (Ohio) Police Department.

The video shows the pregnant woman inside a Kroger as she places several bottles of alcohol in her bag. Young appears to wait in line for a few moments before leaving the store with two other women, setting off the alarms in the process, as confirmed by WOSU.

In response to the assumed theft, police stopped Young after she left the property in her black Lexus sedan. As reported previously, Young, 21, was shot through her windshield after trying to drive away. She and her unborn child later died at a nearby hospital.

Blendon Township is a suburb of Columbus.

What’s depicted in the video does not align with what Young family’s lawyers believed happened, according to a statement from the attorneys. While their lawyer claimed Young’s innocence, stating that she never left the store with the bottles on her person, the footage seems to show otherwise. In addition, the body-cam video shows that the police on the scene provided first aid to Young after one of the officers shot her.

Blendon Township’s Chief of Police John Belford released a statement after the controversy sparked by the unveiling of the footage.

“This was a tragic situation for everyone,” said Belford. “We recognize that these videos will create more discussion and even anger by people who have passionate feelings for or against the officer’s actions. But we’re simply complying with our promise of transparency and our obligation to release public records as required by state law.”

The family’s lawyer, Sean Walton, has not responded to comments since the new footage was released.