AKRON, Ohio (AP) — A black man was unarmed when Akron police chased him on foot and killed him in a hail of gunfire, but officers believed he had fired at them earlier from a vehicle and feared he was preparing to shoot again, authorities said Sunday at a news conference.
Akron police have released video of the shooting of Jayland Walker, 25, who was killed June 27 during a pursuit that began with an attempted traffic stop. The mayor called the shooting “heartbreaking” and asked for the community’s patience.
It’s unclear how many shots were fired by the eight officers involved, but Walker suffered more than 60 wounds. A lawyer for Walker’s family said officers continued to fire even after he was on the ground.
Officers tried to stop Walker’s car around 12:30 a.m. for unspecified traffic and equipment violations, but less than a minute into the chase, the sound of a gunshot was heard from the car and a Department of Transportation camera captured what appeared to be a muzzle flash , coming from the vehicle, Akron Police Chief Steve Maillett said. That changed the nature of the case from “a routine traffic stop to now a public safety issue,” he said.
Police body camera videos show what happened after the roughly six-minute chase. Several screaming police officers with guns drawn walk up to the slowing car, which flips over a curb and onto a sidewalk. A man in a ski mask exits the passenger door and runs towards a parking lot. Police chased him for about 10 seconds before officers opened fire from multiple directions, in a series of shots that lasted 6 or 7 seconds.
At least one officer first tried to use a stun gun, but that was unsuccessful, police said.
Maillett said Walker’s actions were difficult to distinguish in the live video, but a still photo appeared to show him “going down to his waist” and another showed him addressing an officer. He said a third photo “captures his arm moving forward.”
In a statement released Sunday to reporters, the local police union said the officers believed there was an imminent threat of serious injury and that it believed their actions and the number of shots fired would be deemed justified in accordance with their training and protocols. The union said officers were cooperating with the investigation.
Police said more than 60 wounds were found on Walker’s body, but further investigation is needed to determine exactly how many rounds officers fired and how many times Walker was hit.
The footage released by police ends with the officers being shot and does not show what happened next. Officers rendered aid and Walker could be heard still having a pulse, but he was later pronounced dead, Maillett said.
The chief said an officer who shoots someone should be “willing to explain why he did what he did, should be able to articulate what specific threats he faced … and should be held accountable.” But he said he was not assessing their actions until they gave their statements.
A handgun, a loaded magazine and a visible wedding ring were found on the car seat. A shell casing matching the weapon was later found in the area where officers believe a shot came from the vehicle.
State Attorney General Dave Yost promised a “full, fair and expert investigation” by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and warned that “body-worn camera footage is only one view of the whole picture.”
Akron police are conducting a separate internal investigation into whether officers violated department rules or policies.
The employees involved in the shooting are on paid administrative leave, which is standard practice in such cases. Seven of them are white and one is black, according to the department. Their tenure with Akron police ranged from a year and a half to six years, and none had a record of discipline, substantiated complaints or fatal shootings, the release said.
Protesters marched peacefully in the city and gathered outside the Akron Judicial Center after the video was released. NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement that Walker’s death was not self-defense, but “was murder. From point of view.
Late Sunday, police in full riot gear fired a dozen rounds of tear gas to disperse a handful of protesters outside the judicial center, WKYC-TV reported.
Walker’s family is calling for accountability but also for peace, their attorneys said. One of the lawyers, Bobby DiCello, called the police shooting excessive and unreasonable and said police handcuffed Walker before he tried to administer first aid.
“How it came to this with a chase is beyond me,” DiCello said.
He said Walker’s family does not know why he ran from police. Walker was grieving the recent death of his fiancee, but his family had no indication of concern beyond that, and he was not a criminal, DiCello said.
“I hope we remember that when Jayland ran across that parking lot, he was unarmed,” DiCello said.
He said he did not know if the gold ring found near the gun in the car belonged to Walker.
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