The hail of more than 90 bullets fired by police at Jayland Walker early Monday sounded like “a whole brick of fireworks going off” in what attorney Bobby DiCello described as an “unbelievable scene.”
Walker’s family’s attorney told the Beacon Journal Friday night that he worries how people will react to the “brutal” police body cam video showing the 25-year-old black man running from officers.
DiCello said he is sharing details about the video ahead of its release Sunday by Akron police to help prepare the community for what it will show, stressing that Walker’s family wants the peace to be kept.
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“We are all preparing for the community response and the only message we have is that the family does not need more violence,” he said. “…He needs peace and wants peace and wants the process to play out.”
DiCello also said Walker recently ran from police in New Franklin for a similar offense, but police did not pursue him.
Akron police will show the video during a news conference at 1 p.m. Sunday and release it publicly afterward.
“This is going to be a brutal video. It will stir up some passions. It will make people worry,” he said.
What the police video shows
Dicello, who watched the video Thursday, described an officer calmly telling dispatchers about the chase when it began around 12:30 a.m. in North Hill when police tried to stop Walker for an equipment violation.
As Walker runs and the police chase Walker, the officer announces that a shot has been fired.
“His voice doesn’t waver, and that echoes on the radio. You hear that and then they keep driving for a few minutes,” DiCello said.
“The speed of the vehicle was 35, 45, 50, hearing the officer call out the speeds and directions of the vehicle. All of a sudden it’s 15 mph. It’s the vehicle that slows down.”
The chase ends in Firestone Park.
“The cop gets out of his car and you see Jayland running like he’s a football player running toward the end zone. He’s there alone, running across the parking lot, and seconds later there’s a hail of gunfire. Sounds like a pack, a whole pack, a whole brick of fireworks.
“You see smoke … and you see an officer actually drop his clip and reload and in the time it takes him … he reloads and in that time the shooting is over. I think the shooting takes about six seconds. It was an incredible amount of shooting.”
Did Walker threaten the police?
DiCello said Walker did not appear to be gesturing toward officers in any threatening manner.
“There’s no stopping and turning,” DiCello said. “There’s no way you could make his hand into a gun shape. No one is holding his cell phone. He has nothing in his hands.
“He’s just sprinting downfield when he’s dropped, I think it’s more like 90 shots. Now how many of those land, according to our investigation, we are currently getting details that suggest 60 to 80 wounds.
Dicello noted that the number of wounds is complex because some bullets can cause multiple entry and exit wounds.
“His body is just riddled with bullets, his face is shot through with bullets, his body where he hit the ground is shot through … it’s an incredible scene,” he said.
“In my 22 years of working in court, both as a former Cuyahoga County District Attorney and as a civil rights attorney on very serious deadly force cases, I have never seen anything like this in my life. This is very, very disturbing.
“I don’t know how the media is actually going to air it.”
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The attorney said the rear windshield of Walker’s car was not damaged, meaning he did not fire directly into the rear.
“And I have to emphasize that there is no evidence that we were shown, or that we found, or that we know of that the young man somehow, as he was walking away from the officers, pointed his gun at the officers,” he said.
DiCello said that although police say Ohio Department of Transportation traffic video shows a flash of gunfire coming from Walker’s car, his team has not been able to find that evidence so far.
The investigation should be able to determine whether Walker fired a gun that night, he said.
Pastor says police first shot Walker in the back
The Rev. Roderick Pounds, pastor at Second Baptist Church, was also among those who watched the police tape with family members and attorneys.
Pounds relayed what he saw to a crowd of about 30 protesters gathered outside the Stubbs Justice Center around 5 p.m. Friday after he watched the video. The group erupted in emotion as some protesters began to cry and others shouted in anger.
“His body was pierced from his face to his knees,” Pounds told the crowd. “And they shot him to the ground.
“The first shots were in his back,” Pounds said. “As it spins, they light it up.
Police have not yet answered questions about the number of shots fired or identified the officers involved in the incident.
Calls for peace
Shortly after Pounds’ comments, he encouraged protesters to attend this weekend’s upcoming rallies.
Two processions are planned from Second Baptist Church to the Stubbs Justice Center beginning at 2:00 pm on Saturday and 4:00 pm on Sunday.
Pounds urged the protesters to be peaceful, although some people in the crowd called for violence.
“We go in peace, but we come in power,” he said. “We don’t want any more bloodshed.”
He expects more than 1,000 protesters to join Saturday’s march, citing out-of-town activists who plan to travel and participate.
DiCello also urged the public to respect the Walker family’s wishes for peace.
“At the heart of our message is peace, dignity and justice for Jayland. That’s the whole message of where they’re coming from. They don’t want any more violence at all.
“We want to make sure that if people are going to protest, they’re going to do it peacefully.”
Eric Marotta and Abby Marshall contributed to this report.
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