Akron Police Department and the City of Ohio held a press conference early Sunday to release bodycam footage of the Jayland Walker shooting that happened at about 12:30 a.m. on June 27, 2022.
In the bodycam footage, which is a bit grainy because of the quality of bodycams, you can see and hear several dozen gunshots being heard. Authorities confirmed during the press briefing that at least Walker had at least 60 wounds, but would not confirm how many bullets actually hit his body before he crumbled to the ground and was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The bodycam footage began with officers in a patrol vehicle chasing Jayaland Walker after he refused to stop for an alleged traffic violation. Officers report about 40 seconds into the pursuit, they heard a “sound of a gunshot” coming from the driver’s side door and a traffic cam caught a “flash of light” on the driver’s side. Once a gunshot was heard, police contend this was now a “public safety issue”. After several minutes of leading police on a chase, Walker, who was in a ski mask according to police, jumped out of his vehicle, a Buick, and continued to flee the police on foot. Several tasers were allegedly deployed to try and stop Walker, but that did not work.
Police Chief Stephen Mylett of the Akron Police Department did confirm Sunday that Walker was unarmed at the time of the shooting. However, when officers went back to the vehicle, they did find a handgun, with a loaded magazine on the driver’s seat of Walker’s Buick.
The investigation remains ongoing, and the eight police officers involved have been put on administrative leave pending the investigation.
