After a Black man is killed by police, a city cancels its July Fourth celebration Washington Post By Timothy Bella Updated July 1, 2022 at 3:18 p.m. EDT|Published July 1, 2022 at 2:06 p.m. EDT Days after a Black man was killed by police officers who reportedly fired almost 100 rounds during a chase that started as a traffic stop, officials in Akron, Ohio, announced that the Fourth of July celebration was canceled in response to a fatal shooting that has rocked the city this week. Police tried to pull over Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old DoorDash driver, for a traffic infraction early Monday, authorities said. The Akron Police Department said that during the pursuit, Walker fired a gun from outside the vehicle — a claim that Walker’s family has refuted. As he kept driving away from police, Walker jumped out of his vehicle and was chased by officers on foot, according to authorities. It’s unclear why Walker fled police, as he had no criminal record, Bobby DiCello, one of the family’s attorneys, told The Washington Post. “Actions by the suspect caused the officers to perceive he posed a deadly threat to them,” police said in a news release. “In response to this threat, officers discharged their firearms, striking the suspect.” Walker was pronounced dead at the parking lot where he was shot. Autopsy records show that eight officers fired more than 90 rounds at Walker, with more than 60 striking his body, DiCello told The Post. The account was corroborated by WKYC, the first to report on the number of gunshots fired. “There are wounds on all sides and parts of his body,” DiCello said. Eight officers involved in the shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the conclusion of the investigation from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, according to Akron police. Details surrounding the number of shots fired by police have not been released by authorities. The officers have not yet been publicly identified. A weapon was recovered from inside Walker’s car, according to police. DiCello said there is no evidence showing that the firearm was in the car or that the firearm was discharged at an officer. The killing has sparked protests and calls for accountability from Walker’s family and residents angry over the third fatal police shooting in the northeast Ohio city since late December. Akron police announced Friday that body-camera footage of the shooting would be released on Sunday afternoon. The blowback led Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan (D), who called the killing “a dark day for our city,” to announce that the city’s Fourth of July celebration was canceled. The Rib, White, & Blue Festival was scheduled to begin Friday in downtown Akron and conclude Monday on Independence Day. The part of downtown where the festival would have taken place will have no activities or entertainment over the holiday weekend, according to the city. Continued...
Ohio police officers shot fleeing Black man dozens of times, lawyer says Reuters By Jason Lange and Jonathan Landay July 2, 20226:16 PM EDT July 2 (Reuters) - Police killed Jayland Walker, a Black man in Ohio, by shooting him dozens of times as he ran from officers following a traffic stop, a lawyer for his family said, citing a review of police body-worn camera footage due to be made public on Sunday. In comments published on Saturday by the Akron Beacon Journal, attorney Bobby DiCello described the video as "brutal," and said Walker's relatives worried that protests this weekend could turn violent. The shooting was the latest in a spate of killings of Black men by law enforcement in the United States that critics say are unjustified, including the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis that ignited global protests against police brutality and racial injustice. "We're all bracing for the community's response, and the one message that we have is the family does not need any more violence," DiCello said. Akron police have said Walker, 25, fired a gun at officers who were pursuing him. They plan to release their body camera footage following a news conference on Sunday, hours before a protest march is scheduled. "Protest is a way of crying," Rodderick Pounds Sr., pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Akron, said during a prayer rally there on Saturday after he was permitted to see the video prior to its being made public. Pounds declined to describe in detail "the graphic video the world is about to see," but he called the footage "shocking," saying it showed Walker posed no threat when he was shot down in a manner the pastor likened to a "massacre." "It's barbaric," Pounds said in an interview with local television station WEWS-TV. "You'll see tomorrow." Continued...
Wait, so he fled the car, had no gun on him while fleeing although 1 was allegedly found in the car, and was shot at 100 times? 100 times? Wtf?
In some people's minds, this may be interpreted as a great reason to go out and loot the local retail establishments.
If he shot at cops was the shooting justified? Cops are notorious for Bonnie and Clyde treatment of spray and pray which I'm happy for them to fry for.
will have to wait for actual footage which I don’t even want to watch because I don’t want to see someone being shot 60 times, but not sure how this sounds justified The police said Mr. Walker discharged a gun while he was driving, but the statement did not specify how they knew that. After a few minutes, Mr. Walker slowed down his car and exited it while it was still moving; officers then chased him on foot into a parking lot, the police said. The statement said officers opened fire after “actions by the suspect caused the officers to perceive he posed a deadly threat to them.” Mr. DiCello said that he saw no evidence in the video of Mr. Walker moving in a way that would “put them in fear” or require them to shoot. “I’ve met personally with the chief and he has told me that he hasn’t found that evidence,” Mr. DiCello said. He said that the police chief told him that moments before the shooting began, two officers tried to use stun guns on Mr. Walker and missed. Mr. DiCello said that the parking lot Mr. Walker ran into was large, empty and did not have places for him to hide. He said Mr. Walker was not gesturing in a threatening way when the shooting began. “Imagine a person running away and starting to turn to look back behind them as one is running and it’s at that point that the gunshots erupt,” Mr. DiCello said. Mr. DiCello also raised questions about the police report’s narrative that Mr. Walker had fired a gun while driving away from officers. “The rear windshield is intact, the front windshield is intact and all side windows are intact,” he said. “There’s no call, there’s no report that we’ve seen and there’s been no mention by the chief in personal discussions with him that a gun was seen outside the car, waving at or being pointed at anyone.” Mr. Walker had an unspecified gun in the car, but he was not carrying that, or anything else, when police chased him on foot, Mr. DiCello said. the amount of times he was shot is astonishing…you’d swear he was aiming a weapon of mass destruction at the cops…you’d swear he had a rocket launcher locked and loaded 60 times doesn’t even sound believable, but I put nothing past cops
That report reminds me of the initial reporting on the Michael Brown killing in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. Which turned out to be fake news.
The key is whether he shot a gun while the police were perusing him. If he did he signed his own death warrant.
90 shots from 8 officers, two of whom fired tasers? Sounds roughly like 6 cops mag dumped him (6x15=90). Unarmed suspect that two cops felt comfortable going non-lethal, doesn't look good for the rest of them.
I have watched enough movies to know that sometimes even 60 body shots are not enough to keep a guy down. Some folks are just tough son of a b****es.
given all the injustice in the world, people aren't going to waste the finite reservoir of outrage they possess on someone who shoots at police and then dies in the ensuing events
It's obvious from the press conference and the way that the police have presented the video shown above that they're backing the officers. No surprise there I guess. I'm not seeing the "flash" or gunfire coming from the suspect's car and I can't tell much from the foot chase and shooting from the video above, other than this particular officer appears to have unloaded into the deceased, and that it least appears one or more officers could've easily been shot had they moved suddenly in front of this officer. (Maybe I'm wrong about the other officers being at risk of being shot... ) I'm going to have to see more videos/angles though before drawing any conclusions. I don't look forward to watching them, but I'm curious how they compare. to what's not been presented so far.
