A Black man in Akron, Ohio, was killed on Monday when police shot him at least 60 times as he was running away following a traffic stop, according to his family’s lawyer, who cited police body-camera video that he viewed.
Akron Police Department officers attempted to stop 25-year-old Jayland Walker at 12:30 am for a traffic violation and conducted a pursuit after he refused to stop, the police department said in a Tuesday statement on its Facebook page. After a few minutes, Walker slowed down and left his car while it was still in motion and ran away from police, according to the statement.
The statement says Walker ran into a parking lot, and “actions by the suspect caused the officers to perceive he posed a deadly threat to them.” Officers shot him and called for medical services, but Walker was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the statement.
Bobby DiCello, the attorney for Walker’s family, told the Akron Beacon Journal in an interview published Friday evening that Walker does not appear to have gestured toward the officers in a threatening way, based on the body-cam video he viewed. He said officers appear to have fired dozens of shots at Walker while he was fleeing with nothing in his hands.
The police department said in its statement that the officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave in accordance with departmental procedure. It did not name them.
DiCello did not immediately return a request from The Hill for comment.
DiCello said the video shows an officer calmly telling dispatchers about chasing Walker at 12:30 am after police attempted to stop him.
The police department’s statement says that officers reported a firearm being discharged from Walker’s car while they pursued it. But DiCello questioned that, telling the Journal that