The Akron police officers who shot and killed 25-year-old Black man Jayland Walker after a foot chase and automobile chase last year were not indicted by an Ohio grand jury.
According to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, the grand jury found that the use of force by the officers was legal.
On June 27, 2022, shortly after midnight, police conducted a traffic stop of a 2005 Buick with a damaged license plate light, according to the authorities. During the pursuit, the car’s driver, later identified as Walker, allegedly fired a bullet from inside the vehicle as he sped away from the police.
Walker then exited the vehicle wearing a ski mask and led police on a foot chase, ignoring commands to stop and show his hands, Yost said. He then made a motion that officers interpreted as threatening, leading to the shooting, Yost said.
“He reached for his waistband in what several officers described as a cross-draw motion, planted his foot and turned toward the officers while raising his hand,” Yost said. “Only then did the officers fire, believing Mr. Walker was firing again at them.”
“The law allows officers to use deadly force to defend themselves or others against a deadly threat,” he added.
Walker was unarmed at the time he was killed, according to police. A gun was found in his vehicle after the shooting and the ballistics of a shot recovered nearby matched the weapon, Yost said.
The inquiry found that eight police officers shot at Walker 94 times in a span of 6.7 seconds. Each of the three officers fired 18 shots.
According to an autopsy performed by Dr. Lisa Kohler of the Summit County Medical Examiner, Walker had 46 bullet entrance or graze wounds. Walker was nonetheless handcuffed by police after the incident, a decision that “added insult to a terrible loss,” according to the family’s attorney Bobby DiCello, who spoke to CNN last year.
His passing sparked an inquiry by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal inquiry, as well as demonstrations against racial injustice and police brutality, some of which turned violent and caused damage to nearby businesses, according to Akron police.
The investigation by the agency was then handed over to a special prosecutor, who during the past week presented the case to a grand jury. Ohio law permits officers to testify in front of the grand jury, a system that, in DiCello’s words, “favors the officers.”