The Columbus City Council today issued a permit for a march to take place Tuesday afternoon in the wake of the shooting death of Ricky Ball on Oct. 16.
The council, during the specially called meeting this morning, also met in executive session for roughly an hour to discuss the job performance of three employees of the city police department.
No action was taken and the council was slated to meet again at 2 p.m. today. City officials did not say who specifically was being discussed or for what reason.
However, on Wednesday, the Columbus Police Department released more details regarding the shooting death of Ricky Ball, the Columbus resident shot and killed by CPD on Oct. 16.
CPD, in an emailed statement, said three officers were involved in the shooting. The officers were Canyon Boykin, Johnny Branch and Yolanda Young, according to Raymond Hackler, public information officer with CPD.
Ball, 26, was a passenger in a vehicle CPD attempted to pull over at approximately 10:08 p.m. on Oct. 16, near 22nd Street North and 15th Avenue North. Police Chief Tony Carleton has said the stop was initiated because of careless driving, no light above the license plate and lack of insurance.
When the vehicle stopped, Ball ran, according to authorities. He was subsequently shot twice — once in the upper body, once in the lower body. Authorities have declined to say exactly where he was injured. Authorities have also declined to say if he shot at, or attacked, the officers who fired at him. He was later pronounced dead at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle.
CPD says a 9mm was discovered “within arm’s reach” of Ball after he was found laying in a residential neighborhood not long after being shot. That 9mm had been reported stolen from a CPD officer’s residence in August, according to authorities.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is handling the case.
Boykin, Branch and Young are on administrative leave during the investigation. Each of them was equipped with CPD-issued body cameras at the time of the shooting. None of them activated the camera prior to or during the incident, according to CPD.
The officers also had an unapproved civilian riding in the police car with them at the time of the traffic stop.
March planned for Tuesday
The council this morning also approved a permit for a march regarding Hall. The council voted to allow the march to take place from 3 to 8 p.m. on Nov. 3. Councilman Bill Gavin voted against issuing the permit.
Ricky Ball’s first cousin, Ernesto Ball, is organizing the march. Marchers will gather at Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church on 14th Avenue North and march to the Municipal Complex in time for Tuesday’s city council meeting scheduled for 5 p.m. that day. Following the meeting, the march will go back to 14th Avenue to the place where Ricky Ball was loaded into an ambulance after the shooting and hold a candlelight vigil and prayer.
“We’re really just trying to do a peaceful march in remembrance of my little cousin,” Ernesto Ball said.
Ricky Ball was living with Ernesto while in Columbus, Ernesto said. Ernesto added that his cousin’s death had brought the community together.
“I hate that it happened like that, but for some reason his death … brought the community closer together for some reason,” said Ernesto Ball. “There’s always been a lot of tension between the north side and the south side, but now everyone’s coming together in unity. It’s been pretty peaceful.”
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