Police in Akron, Ohio, have released heartbreaking CCTV footage showing the moment an unarmed 25-year-old black man was shot more than 60 times by cops.
“I’ll mince words, the video you’re about to watch is heartbreaking,” Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan said at a news conference Sunday. “I urge all of our residents to exercise full discretion until our investigation is complete.”
The body camera footage shown Sunday began with officers chasing Jayland Walker in their squad cars around 12:30 a.m. Monday after he refused to stop for an alleged traffic violation. Police said about 40 seconds after he fled, officers heard “the sound of a gunshot” coming from his car door.
The car chase continued for several more minutes before Walker, wearing a ski mask, exited his silver Buick through the passenger door and fled on foot. Police said cops unsuccessfully tried to detain him with Tasers and the chase continued into a nearby parking lot.
There, Walker “quickly turned toward the pursuing officers” and they opened fire on him, police said. Disturbing body camera footage shows Walker quickly falling to the ground as countless gunshots ring out.
Police Chief Stephen Mylett confirmed Sunday that Walker was “unarmed” when he was killed. Cops found a gun, a loaded magazine and a gold ring in the driver’s seat of his car.
Walker still had a pulse as officers tried to load him into the squad car, Maillet added. He could not say how many bullets were fired, but Walker had at least 60 wounds to his body.
Acknowledging how horrific the footage was, Horrigan urged residents to protest peacefully.
“I fully support the right of our residents to assemble peacefully,” the mayor said at the news conference. “But I hope the community will agree that violence and destruction is not the answer.”
After Walker’s slaying on June 27, the eight Akron police officers involved were placed on leave and the city canceled its Fourth of July celebrations. Protesters have surrounded city buildings, demanding justice and the release of body camera footage.
Lawyers for Walker’s family said they were furious with the way police presented the videos on Sunday, insisting he was portrayed as a villain in their descriptions of the footage. Bobby DiCello, the lead attorney representing the family, said Maillett was an “armchair quarterback” using “snapshots in time” as he dissected the footage.
“They want to turn him into a masked monster with a gun,” DiCello said.
His colleague Ken Abarno echoed that sentiment, calling for police to be more transparent about what happened during the pursuit of Walker.
“Officers will have to account for every single action they took,” Abarno said. “We live in a society where we can never see that happen again.”
DiCello said he died after being shot nearly 100 times, and they asked police to take statements from the officers involved in the shooting. The names of the employees have not been disclosed.
“The Walker family is praying for peace, they are praying for peace, they are praying for accountability,” Abarno said after the footage was released Sunday afternoon. “We cannot villainize Jayland.”
“We’re done dying like this,” said another attorney, Paige White. “No one should ever suffer the fate of Jayland Walker.”
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