Two Columbia, Missouri, officers who were videotaped trying to detain a man who was repeatedly punched in the face by one of the officers will no longer work for the police force after this week, the mayor of Missouri said. the city.
Mayor Barbara Buffaloe confirmed that the officers will no longer be on duty as of Friday.
“It’s been a tough week for our community,” Buffaloe said Monday at a city council meeting. “I recognize that when we have incidents, sometimes we ask for patience and grace, and it’s to make sure we handle the situations correctly.”
The officers — identified by local media as Gardner Pottorff and Keenen Shouse — responded to a reported “breakdown” around 12:45 a.m. Sunday, March 7, in the 20 block of South 10th Street outside a downtown bar.
Video taken by a bystander showed the officers using violence.
The man’s face began to bleed when one of the officers, identified as Pottorff by TV station KMIZ, punched him as he lay on the ground. Someone standing nearby was heard to say, ‘He’s punching him in the face. Oh my God.”
Columbia Police Chief Geoff Jones requested that an independent criminal investigation into the officers’ conduct be conducted by the Boone County Sheriff’s Office.
The department is also conducting an internal investigation.
