Cops Shot an Unarmed Black Man 43 Times…So What?
Steve Mylett, the Akron chief of police, found that the officer’s actions during the fatal encounter were “objectively reasonable.”
His ruling came on November 29, more than a year after Jaylan Walker was gunned down by police during a traffic stop on June 27, 2002.
The decision to clear the cops was already signed, sealed, and delivered to the anger of some.
On April 17, 2023, a special grand jury in Ohio declined to indict the Akron police officers after a car chase and foot chase last year.
The grand jury concluded the officers were legally justified in their use of force against Jayland Walker, according to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
Following the shooting, Walker was put in handcuffs by police and was found with his hands cuffed behind his back when EMTs arrived on the scene.
According to police, officers attempted to administer first aid to Walker after he was shot many times. Walker was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police shot Walker 17 times in his pelvis.
One bullet struck his face and fractured his jaw.
Eight gunshot wounds injured his arms and his right hand.
Five gunshot wounds injured his knees, right lower leg, and right foot, according to Lisa Kohler, MD, the Summit County Medical Examiner.
No firearm was found on or near Walker’s body, though the cops on the scene all claimed that they saw him reach for a weapon or for what they assumed was a weapon. No illegal drugs were found in his body.
The Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled his death a homicide seven months after the deadly shooting.
Eight cops, including a Black officer, fired 94 shots within 6.7 seconds at Jayland Walker. Three cops fired 18 shots each. But the deadly shootings complied with the department’s rules, said Police Chief Mylott.
Walker worked as a delivery driver when police stopped him for a traffic violation because his license plate was broken.
Gun residue shows he did not have a gun in his hands. A gun was found in his car near his wedding ring.
The Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled his death a homicide.
Police killings over minor traffic violations has become routine by cops.
Police often argue that low-level stops and the searches they conduct during those stops allow them to root out dangerous crimes by identifying guns and drugs.
However, according to the Vera Institute of Justice, data shows that searches that begin with traffic stops seldom yield contraband.
Encounters with police during traffic stops, including minor infractions, disproportionately harm people of color, according to data collected by Mapping Police Violence, a non-profit research group, which argues that armed police should not be involved in the majority of these cases.
Community organizations want the U.S. Justice Department to investigate Walker’s murder. Walker’s family has filed a $45 million lawsuit against the city of Akron and the police department. The cops involved in Walker’s murder are back on duty.
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This was soo wrong of the police officers how we’re they able to walk away after murdering a unarmed black man? That many shots alone screams it was murder over kill!!!!! Him reaching for “something ” doesn’t give them an excuse to execute a man who hasn’t committed a crime ohh the crime he committed was being scared for his life while being a black man smh This is unjustified murder that was justified by people with higher power. But judgment day is coming sooner than later and I pray the Lord has No mercy on these evil people like they had No Mercy for this innocent man.
We see far too much of this happening in our society today I mean this man was married had a family his gun was clearly an eyesight of the officers so what was the threat where was the threat I believe that they should be held accountable just like in the joyful George Floyd murder and this was murdered clearly you have to shoot one person 45 times that’s ridiculous in the US department of Justice needs to step in and get his family some closure and some justice for their son father husband brother this is ridiculous you mean to tell me there was no charging spout and there was no gun no drugs no nothing just because his license plate was broken just ridiculous and I just don’t understand I just don’t have no understanding I don’t have no understanding this in my heart goes out to the family on this one I thought we had gotten past all this especially in Ohio really come on that that man needs some justice so he can rest in peace cuz this was clearly homicide.
AKRON, Ohio) — After more than a week of testimony and evidence, a Summit County grand jury today declined to indict eight law enforcement officers from the Akron Police Department in the death last year of Jayland Walker, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced today.
“The question for the grand jury was not whether this was a horrible tragedy, as it clearly was,” AG Yost said at a news conference after the decision was handed down. “The question the grand jury was charged with evaluating was whether the officers were justified in their actions. The grand jury – nine citizens who live in Summit County – determined that the officers were justified.”
Walker, 25, of Akron, was fatally shot at 12:38 a.m. on June 27, 2022, in the parking lot of 1659 S. Main St.
Immediately following the officer-involved critical incident, the Akron Police Department requested assistance from the Crime Scene Unit of the attorney general’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI). Later that day, around 11 a.m., the department requested that BCI lead the use-of-force investigation.
As part of BCI’s efforts to gather and document all pertinent facts in the case:
Investigators conducted more than 100 recorded interviews, including those with:
The eight Akron officers who discharged their weapons.
The 47 Akron officers who were involved in the incident, at the scene or otherwise deemed to have potentially relevant information.
Possible witnesses.
Family members, friends and associates of Walker.
Investigators obtained and served six search warrants and four subpoenas, including those for Walker’s 2005 Buick Century, cellphone, employment records, Google records, and other financial and phone records.
The Crime Scene Unit processed the scene for potential evidence, created 3D scans and models of the incident area, and collected more than 140 items of evidence from the scene and Walker’s vehicle.
Investigators obtained and reviewed a combined 51 body-worn-camera footage clips and one dash-camera video from 45 officers. Of those, the eight body-worn-camera clips from the involved officers and four body-worn-camera footage clips from other responding Akron officers captured some portion of the incident.
Investigators also obtained a dash-camera video from a Cuyahoga Falls officer that captured Walker discharging a firearm from his vehicle.
Investigators obtained and reviewed surveillance-camera footage, including 25 videos from the Ohio Department of Transportation’s traffic cameras; six videos from the Bridgestone Center for Research and Technology, at 1659 S. Main St.; and video from Range USA in Akron, where Walker visited a shooting range with a friend on June 7 and, two weeks later, purchased a Glock pistol.
Investigators attended a post-mortem examination of Jayland Walker’s body conducted by the Summit County medical examiner. They obtained relevant autopsy-related information, evidence and toxicology reports.
Forensic scientists conducted forensic examinations, identifications and firearm operability tests on 155 items of evidence. The bureau’s laboratory also conducted DNA analysis on Walker’s recovered firearm and associated shell casing.
Investigators reviewed Akron Police Department reports, New Franklin Police Department reports related to a previous pursuit of the Buick Century, APD’s use-of-force policies and the involved officers’ departmental records.
Specialists from the attorney general’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission created enhancements of audio and video records for body-worn-camera footage, dash-camera footage and traffic-camera clips. OOCIC also created a top-down animation map of the involved officers’ positions during the incident.
Once completed, BCI’s investigation was referred to a special prosecutor from the Attorney General’s Office appointed by the Summit County prosecutor to present the case to a grand jury.
Today, the grand jury issued a “no bill” indictment in the case, meaning the jurors determined there was not sufficient cause to indict the officers.
“This case took more than a week because of the volume of evidence presented,” Yost said. “It’s important to note that the job of my office in this case was to investigate and present evidence to the grand jury. The grand jury was instructed about the law by the judge who oversees it, not by the prosecutors, to avoid any question about the accuracy of the instruction.”
BCI’s files in this case have been posted to the attorney general’s website. The site archives files for officer-involved critical incidents only after a case is closed to ensure a fair investigation and judicial process.
“I began publishing all of the evidence our investigators find in officer-involved critical incidents as a way of helping the community understand what actually happened, and to know that the investigation was thorough, expert and independent,” Yost said.
What about him shooting from his car. That’s the reason he got shot.
AKRON, Ohio) — After more than a week of testimony and evidence, a Summit County grand jury today declined to indict eight law enforcement officers from the Akron Police Department in the death last year of Jayland Walker, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced today.
“The question for the grand jury was not whether this was a horrible tragedy, as it clearly was,” AG Yost said at a news conference after the decision was handed down. “The question the grand jury was charged with evaluating was whether the officers were justified in their actions. The grand jury – nine citizens who live in Summit County – determined that the officers were justified.”
Walker, 25, of Akron, was fatally shot at 12:38 a.m. on June 27, 2022, in the parking lot of 1659 S. Main St.
Immediately following the officer-involved critical incident, the Akron Police Department requested assistance from the Crime Scene Unit of the attorney general’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI). Later that day, around 11 a.m., the department requested that BCI lead the use-of-force investigation.
As part of BCI’s efforts to gather and document all pertinent facts in the case:
Investigators conducted more than 100 recorded interviews, including those with:
The eight Akron officers who discharged their weapons.
The 47 Akron officers who were involved in the incident, at the scene or otherwise deemed to have potentially relevant information.
Possible witnesses.
Family members, friends and associates of Walker.
Investigators obtained and served six search warrants and four subpoenas, including those for Walker’s 2005 Buick Century, cellphone, employment records, Google records, and other financial and phone records.
The Crime Scene Unit processed the scene for potential evidence, created 3D scans and models of the incident area, and collected more than 140 items of evidence from the scene and Walker’s vehicle.
Investigators obtained and reviewed a combined 51 body-worn-camera footage clips and one dash-camera video from 45 officers. Of those, the eight body-worn-camera clips from the involved officers and four body-worn-camera footage clips from other responding Akron officers captured some portion of the incident.
Investigators also obtained a dash-camera video from a Cuyahoga Falls officer that captured Walker discharging a firearm from his vehicle.
Investigators obtained and reviewed surveillance-camera footage, including 25 videos from the Ohio Department of Transportation’s traffic cameras; six videos from the Bridgestone Center for Research and Technology, at 1659 S. Main St.; and video from Range USA in Akron, where Walker visited a shooting range with a friend on June 7 and, two weeks later, purchased a Glock pistol.
Investigators attended a post-mortem examination of Jayland Walker’s body conducted by the Summit County medical examiner. They obtained relevant autopsy-related information, evidence and toxicology reports.
Forensic scientists conducted forensic examinations, identifications and firearm operability tests on 155 items of evidence. The bureau’s laboratory also conducted DNA analysis on Walker’s recovered firearm and associated shell casing.
Investigators reviewed Akron Police Department reports, New Franklin Police Department reports related to a previous pursuit of the Buick Century, APD’s use-of-force policies and the involved officers’ departmental records.
Specialists from the attorney general’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission created enhancements of audio and video records for body-worn-camera footage, dash-camera footage and traffic-camera clips. OOCIC also created a top-down animation map of the involved officers’ positions during the incident.
Once completed, BCI’s investigation was referred to a special prosecutor from the Attorney General’s Office appointed by the Summit County prosecutor to present the case to a grand jury.
Today, the grand jury issued a “no bill” indictment in the case, meaning the jurors determined there was not sufficient cause to indict the officers.
“This case took more than a week because of the volume of evidence presented,” Yost said. “It’s important to note that the job of my office in this case was to investigate and present evidence to the grand jury. The grand jury was instructed about the law by the judge who oversees it, not by the prosecutors, to avoid any question about the accuracy of the instruction.”
BCI’s files in this case have been posted to the attorney general’s website. The site archives files for officer-involved critical incidents only after a case is closed to ensure a fair investigation and judicial process.
“I began publishing all of the evidence our investigators find in officer-involved critical incidents as a way of helping the community understand what actually happened, and to know that the investigation was thorough, expert and independent,” Yost said.