Jayland Walker was shot over 60 times by Akron Police, says Family Lawyer.
Jayland Walker, a 25 year old Black man from Akron, Ohio, was shot and killed at 12.30am on Monday (June 27th), after he refused to stop during a traffic stop.
Police claim that a single shot was fired from the moving vehicle, and that Jayland slowed to a stop before exiting the vehicle and heading on foot into a car park, and that officers followed him into it also on foot. A quote from the police said
Actions by the suspect caused the officers to perceive he posed a deadly threat to them. In response to this threat, officers discharged their firearms, striking the suspect.
Jayland was pronounced dead at the scene. After an autopsy by The Summit County Medical Examiner's Office, his cause of death was declared as multiple gunshot wounds, and ruled it a homicide. Jayland’s family lawyer today said that the family are demanding answers about the brutality of the killing.
Speaking to Buzzfeed News, Bobby DiCello - the lawyer - cited information the family have been given by from Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett. He stated that officers fired more than 90 rounds at Jayland Walker, with more than 60 of them hitting him, including in his face. Bobby DiCello went on to say
We know that he was handcuffed after he was shot and killed, and he was found with his hands cuffed on his back when the medical personnel arrived.
He added that Jayland’s family are horrified, and that he himself has never seen the kind of grief and the kind of pain that he’s seen in them today. He said that Jayland’s mother Pamela is feeling that grief especially hard, and that she just cannot understand the notion that 90 bullets were fired at her boy.
The officers involved have been placed on administrative leave, and a formal investigation is under way by The Ohio Bureau of Investigations. However a spokesperson for the Akron PD declined to give any further information on the shooting or the officers involved. He did say however that a press conference on Sunday (July 3rd) will see more details shared, as well as bodycam footage of the incident.
According to Bobby DiCello, police have expressed concern about what will happen in the city in response to the release of bodycam footage. Mayor Dan Horrigan and Police Chief Steve Mylett said in a statement that Walker's death was "absolutely devastating.” DiCello said that the police have been in contact with the family to share their concerns.
They are very concerned about violence when the video is shown. They're reaching out to us, for the family to send a message that they would like us to echo, and we do — which is that we certainly don't want any kind of violence.
According to data from Mapping Police Violence, Black people are nearly 3x more likely to be killed by a police officer in the United States. In 2022 so far 286 people have been killed by police in the USA, and only 4 days where no one was killed by an officer. The last of these was March 10th.