An Ohio grand jury declined to indict eight police officers involved in the shooting death last summer of Jayland Walker, who died in a hail of police gunfire after he shot a gun at officers from his vehicle, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Monday.
Officers tried to stop Walker for a traffic violation in Akron shortly after midnight on June 27 of last year, but he refused to pull over and fired a handgun out his window about 40 seconds into the vehicle chase.
Walker eventually bailed out of the car and ran into a parking lot while wearing a ski mask, body camera footage shows. He reached into his waistband and then raised his hand during the foot chase, leading officers to believe that he was pulling out a gun, Yost said.
Eight officers fired more than 90 shots at Walker, striking him dozens of times, according to an autopsy. Body camera footage of the shooting that was released days after the incident sparked protests in Akron for Walker, who was a 25-year-old Black man.
“The sheer number of shots is one of the things that make the video so hard to watch. Multiple officers each making an independent judgment about a threat and acting independently to neutralize that threat, creates a dynamic that amplifies the use of force exponentially,” Yost said Monday. “That being said, it is critical to remember that Mr. Walker had fired on the police and that he shot first.”
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A handgun and loaded magazine were recovered from his vehicle after the shooting. Dashcam footage from a Cuyahoga Falls officer also showed Walker firing his handgun during the vehicle chase, according to prosecutors.
Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan urged residents to protest peacefully and told “outsiders with ill intentions” to stay out of the city following the grand jury’s decision.
The University of Akron canceled all on-campus events on Monday and moved in-person classes to remote instruction, while all Akron public schools will be closed on Tuesday.
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Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said that the officers will remain on administrative duties for the foreseeable future as the department conducts an internal review.
“As advised by the law department, we will not be releasing the involved officers’ names, as the threats made against them are still believed to be active viable and credible,” Mylett said at a press conference.
A poster on the stage during a news conference following the funeral service for Jayland Walker at the Akron Civic Center in Akron, Ohio, July 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
President Biden said during a visit to Ohio in July that the Justice Department’s civil rights division was monitoring the case.
The Congressional Black Caucus said in a statement Monday the grand jury failed to “bring the eight officers involved in his tragic and unjust murder to justice.”
“Despite the decision today, one thing remains true: Jayland Walker should be alive today,” the caucus said in a statement.
“The excessive use of force shown and the disregard for Jayland’s life by Akron police has no place in any community in our country, and this decision deeply erodes public trust between police and the communities they serve.”
