Henry Green, 23

South Linden, Ohio
June 06, 2016

Agencies: Columbus Division of Police - Ohio

Cause of death: Shooting

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Last updated: almost 6 years ago

Overview

On June 6th, 2016, in Columbus, Ohio, 23-year-old Henry Green, and a friend, Christian Rutledge, were walking toward the house where Green lived with his aunt, when a white SUV with blackened windows abruptly swerved in their direction.

From the car, two white men in casual clothes, one in camouflage cargo shorts and the other dressed in all black, jumped out with guns drawn. Before he could identify Columbus Division of Police officers Jason Bare and Zachary Rosen as law enforcement, 24-year-old Rutledge claims he heard one ask, "You gonna pull a gun on me, motherfucker?" He saw no badges. Shots rang out.

Henry, struck seven times, fell to the ground. His neighbor, Jamar Jordan, saw his friend fight for life on the sidewalk and told him to focus, to try and stay present. Others started to crowd. In a video taken by a bystander just after the shooting, police move about quickly and Jamar can be seen pacing yards behind Henry, who is on the ground in handcuffs, being given CPR while his blood pools.

Rutledge was arrested and held for five hours without knowing the fate of his friend—known to friends and family simply as Bub. Bub's family rushed to the hospital, where he was taken and pronounced dead just over an hour after the officers shot him. Additional police were called to the site of the shooting, then more were sent to the hospital because relatives there "were upset," according to police spokesperson Rich Weiner. Bub's parents were never allowed to see his body.

The Columbus Division of Police (CPD) issued its version of events in the hours after his death: Bare and Rosen said they'd spotted Bub "brandishing" a gun and ordered him to drop his weapon. They claimed that he began shooting at them, so they returned fatal fire.

"They hopped out so fast I thought they shot through the window," Rutledge would later tell the Columbus Dispatch. The officers were operating as part of the Community Safety Initiative, a program designed by the CPD and supported by the city, aimed to target neighborhoods deemed "vulnerable" during summer months through increased police oversight. But those officers were operating as surveillance and technically advised to call a cruiser in the case of an incident.

Bub's mother, Adrienne Hood, questions the officers' explanation. The situation they described was out of character for Bub and Ohio is an open-carry state. So even if he had a gun, she posed, "Where was he breaking the law?"

Tensions were running high in the neighborhood after the shooting, with extra officers called to be on hand as family and friends of the person killed gathered. More officers also were called to Grant because relatives there were upset, said Sgt. Rich Weiner, spokesman for the police division.

Legal Action

August 2016 Autopsy Report shows he was shot seven times