AKRON, Ohio – When police fired their guns at Jayland Walker, 25, early on the morning of June 27, he dropped to the ground within the first second.
Officers fired for six more seconds, according to footage from body-worn cameras released by the Akron Police Department on Sunday.
At least one officer called out, “Cease fire.” What appears to be the same officer waved his arm in a possible attempt to stop the gunfire, but it continued. Walker didn’t survive.
Police Chief Steve Mylett said every officer who fired said Walker turned toward officers and reached toward his waist, then lifted his arm toward officers before they fired.
The footage was filmed from cameras on officers’ chests and became blurry and shaky as they ran and fired, making it hard to see Walker’s actions.
Walker turned around in a full circle shortly after getting out of the passenger side of his car, before he ran from police through a grassy area.
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When the chase got to a parking lot, Walker faced police just before he was shot, but there is no clear movement of his arms on the video footage.
Walker was not armed when he was shot and appeared to have nothing in his hands.
After he fell to the ground, he rolled several times, and bullets pierced his body.
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What do Akron Police Department videos show?
The Akron Police Department released 14 videos that total almost 19 minutes: one narrated video the department prepared that provides a timeline and shows various footage and still photos from the incident, and 13 videos from cameras worn by the police officers.
Eight videos are from the officers involved, and five are from other officers on the scene.
None of the videos shows the aftermath of the shooting; they all stop almost immediately after the gunfire.
The videos start in police officers’ cars; some are from drivers, and some are from passengers. Some videos have audio immediately, and others are silent before audio kicks on about 30 seconds into the video.
Graphic content:View all of Akron police camera videos
Around 12:30 a.m., officers tried to stop Walker’s car, a silver Buick, on East Tallmadge Avenue near Thayer Street. Officers said the reason for the stop was a “traffic violation” and “equipment violation,” but they did not specify what the violations were and none of the video shared by the police department shows the attempted stop. Walker drove onto state Route 8 southbound from Tallmadge Avenue.
Shortly after getting on Route 8, an officer reported “a sound consistent with a gunshot,” according to the narrated video from the department. On the raw video, a bang can be heard on the officer’s body-worn camera, and the officer says, “Shots fired. That vehicle just had a shot come out of its door.”
The narrated video shows several clips and still images from Ohio Department of Transportation cameras in the area. They show a flash of light from the driver’s side of the car, which police said was a muzzle flash.
The chase continued on Route 8 for a few minutes before they exited onto Archwood Avenue and through several city streets until they arrived at the intersection of East Wilbeth Road and Clairmont Avenue.
Walker’s car slowed down. The police camera footage shows the driver’s door open and Walker’s left foot dragging on the pavement as the car rolls at a slow speed.
As officers approached the car, several screamed, “Show me your hands,” “Don’t move,” “Put your hands up” and “Stop the car,” frequently using profanity.
As the car rolled onto a grassy area between the street and a sidewalk, the open driver’s door ran into a police car, pushing the door shut. There’s an audible bang from the collision, which forced Walker’s car slightly off to the right, but there’s no visible damage on the video.
The door reopened as the car rolled forward, then closed again as it grazed a tree.
Walker, who was wearing a ski mask, a black tracksuit and white sneakers, exited the front passenger side door as the car was still moving.
About three seconds later, Walker looked back over his right shoulder and turned to face the police, before continuing to run through a grassy area.
The foot chase moved to a parking lot. At least one officer used a Taser, but “the deployment of tasers was unsuccessful,” the police department said, and Walker kept running. In footage of the shooting, a Taser is visible on the ground.
Walker turned toward officers, and they fired rapidly.
Walker fell and rolled several times, coming to rest on his back with his arms out at his sides. His body convulsed with each subsequent shot.
In one video, an officer drops the gun’s ammunition magazine after firing several times. The shooting lasts seven seconds.
One officer attempts to stop shooting, shouts ‘cease fire’ three times
About four seconds after the shooting starts, an officer comes into the left side of one video and waves his left hand over his head. He kept his arms fairly close to his body, presumably to avoid being caught in a crossfire, but waved his arm rapidly in an apparent attempt to end the shooting.
He is apparently the same officer who yelled “cease fire” three times before it stopped. One video appears to be from that officer’s perspective. He pointed his gun at Walker for the first few seconds of shooting and apparently fired his weapon, then pulled the gun in toward his chest with his right hand. His left arm waved in front of the camera.
Through all the videos, the faces of the officers involved, any identifying tattoos and the cars’ computer screens are blurred out.
Walker’s body, which was blurred during the public presentation of one of the videos during a news conference Sunday, is not blurred in any of the videos released later in the day.
Mylett said the total number of shots, including those that hit Walker, wasn’t yet known, but he expected it to be consistent with the number reported: more than 90 shots.
Mylett said that, according to the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office, Walker had about 60 wounds, but it’s not clear how many were entry wounds and how many were exit wounds.
Contact reporter Emily Mills at emills@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter at @EmilyMills818. Contact reporter Jennifer Pignolet at jpignolet@thebeaconjournal.com, at 330-996-3216 or on Twitter @JenPignolet.