Black teenage girl shot dead by Columbus police

Protesters voiced outrage in Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday after a Black teenage girl was fatally shot by a police officer.

Authorities said the girl had lunged at two people with a knife.

They also say the officers involved were answering a 911 call about an attempted stabbing.

Columbus police released police body camera footage of Tuesday's shooting just hours later.

Police chief Michael Woods says that the video shows the victim holding a knife after officers arrived, and charging toward another girl.

A police officer then opened fire on the girl with the knife as she collapsed against a car parked in the driveway.

"As per policy officers immediately accessed the female for injuries, summoned a medic and began CPR."

Authorities described the victim as a 15-year-old girl, but family members have identified her as 16-year-old Makiyah Bryant.

Woods said that the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation has opened an inquiry and appealed for calm until the case is closed.

Protesters had already begun gathering near the crime scene earlier in the day.

The shooting comes just as peaceful marchers across the country took to the streets after Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd, whose death last summer sparked anti-racism protests around the world.

The Columbus police officer who opened fire on Tuesday was not identified, but Woods said he "would be taken off the street" pending an investigation.