Jayland Walker, 25
When: June 27, 2022
Where: Akron, Ohio
What happened: According to police, the events that led to the ѕһᴏᴏтɪпɡ began around 12:30 a.m ., when police attempted to stop Walker, who was driving a silver Buick, for traffic and equipment violations.
Walker fled the stop, according to a narrated video timeline of the incident police played at Sunday’s news conference, and officers began to chase after him.
About 40 seconds after Walker drove away from police, “a sound consistent with a gunshot can be heard on the body-worn cameras of the officers,” police said in the narrated video. Police also said “a flash of light” could be seen on the driver’s side of the car at the time of the sound.
After several minutes, body camera video shows that Walker’s vehicle slowed, and he exited the vehicle and ran. Several police officers got out of their patrol cars and chased him, and officers ԀᴇρʟᴏʏᴇԀ Tasers in an effort to stop him, police said, but were unsuccessful.
The incident ended soon after when, according to a police timeline, Walker “stopped and quickly turned towards the officers,” and eight officers discharged their weapons on the unarmed man, firing dozens of bullets. At least one officer can be heard near the end of videos that were released shouting, “Cease fire.”
What’s next: The shooting remains under investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI).
The eight officers who Akron Police Chief Stephen Mylett said were “directly involved in the shooting” have all been placed on paid administrative leave, per department policy. According to information released by the city, seven of the officers are White and one is Black.
A medical examiner’s report found Walker suffered at least 60 wounds as a result of the gunfire, Mylett said Sunday, though the medical examiner is still working to determine which are entrance wounds and which are exit wounds. The BCI will determine exactly how many times Walker was shot, Mylett said.
The officers are “cooperating fully” with the investigation, the Akron police union said in a statement, adding it believes the investigation will determine the officers’ use of force was justified.
Mylett said officers retrieved a shell casing near the scene of the attempted traffic stop that was “consistent with the firearm that
Mr. Walker had in his vehicle. The BCI will determine whether or not that casing came from the gun or not.”
The Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office did not release the autopsy record to CNN but confirmed Walker’s death “is ruled a һᴏᴍɪᴄɪԀᴇ and is considered a ‘confidential law enforcement investigatory record.'”
Walker ԀɪᴇԀ from multiple gunshot wounds to the face, abdomen and upper legs, CNN affiliate WEWS reported, citing findings by its media partner, the Akron Beacon Journal.
A final ɑᴜтᴏρѕʏ report will be turned over to the BCI, and the report will be part of what the state attorney general’s office considers for presenting a case to a grand jury.
