Protests have been held around Akron since the June 27 police shooting of Walker, but intensified Sunday after police released the video, with Akron Mayor Daniel Horrigan calling it “heartbreaking.” The video captured officers dressed in riot gear and carrying shields confronting protesters, who were heard chanting, “Fk the Police,” “Justice for Jayland” and “We are dead dying,” News 5 Cleveland reported. Other videos showed officers using a dozen tear gas canisters in an attempt to disperse the crowd after someone hit barricades around the Akron Justice Center, WKYC reported. A woman stands in front of troopers in riot gear as police deployed tear gas and stun grenades to clear the area around Akron City Hall and the Akron Police Department during a protest over the killing of Jayland Walker, who was shot by police in Akron, Ohio, in July. 3, 2022. AFP via Getty Images Akron police dressed in riot gear and carrying shields confronted protesters at the Akron Justice Center Sunday night. AFP via Getty Images Tear gas was fired as protesters set fire to a trash can and tried to move barricades in downtown Akron on Sunday. AFP via Getty Images During the unrest, protesters blocked traffic in the Highland Square and West Akron sections of the city, and someone had set fire to a trash can and broken windows from plows used to block streets. At a news conference Sunday to announce the release of the body camera video, authorities acknowledged that Walker, 25, was unarmed when officers chased him on foot and killed him with a barrage of bullets, but believed that he had shot them. earlier from his car and feared he was going to shoot again. It’s unclear how many shots were fired by the eight officers involved in the incident, but Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said the number could exceed 90, with Walker suffering at least 60 gunshot wounds — even after was found on the ground, according to a lawyer for his family. A medical examiner who arrived at the scene found Walker lying handcuffed behind his back, according to an ME “worksheet” on the case, the Beacon Journal reported. According to information, he suffered injuries to his face, torso and leg. Walker, 25, was shot and killed June 27 after leading officers on a chase and allegedly firing from his car following a traffic stop. Graphic body camera video released Sunday shows eight officers firing dozens of shots at Walker after he got out of his vehicle wearing a ski mask (pictured). Akron Police Department/AFP via Police said Walker was likely shot more than 90 times, even after he was on the ground. via REUTERS Police tried to pull over Walker’s car around 12:30 a.m. last Monday for unspecified traffic and equipment violations, but he refused to stop, leading officers on a chase. Police said Walker fired from his car during the chase, and a department of transportation camera captured what appeared to be a muzzle flash coming from the vehicle. Mylett said it changed the nature of the case from “a routine traffic stop to now a public safety issue.” Body camera footage shows what unfolded after the roughly six-minute chase. Several shouting officers with guns drawn approach the slowing car on foot as it rolls over a curb and onto a sidewalk. The walker wearing a ski mask exits the passenger door and runs into a parking lot. The police chase him for about 10 seconds before the officers open fire from multiple directions in a burst of gunfire that lasts 6 or 7 seconds. Police said they found a handgun, a loaded magazine and a gold ring in Walker’s vehicle during the traffic stop. Akron Police Department/AFP via At least one officer had first tried to use a stun gun, but that was unsuccessful, police said. Mylett said Walker’s actions are hard to make out in real-time video, but one still photo appears to show him “going down to his waist area” and another appears to show him turning toward an officer. He said a third photo “captures a forward motion of his hand.” In a statement shared Sunday with reporters, the local police union said the officers believed there was an immediate threat of serious injury and believed their actions and the number of shots fired would be justified under their training and protocols. The union said officers are cooperating with the investigation. Police said more than 60 wounds were found on Walker’s body, but further investigation is needed to determine exactly how many rounds officers fired and how many times Walker was hit. The video released by police ends with the officers being shot and does not show what happened next. Officers administered first aid and someone could be heard saying Walker still had a pulse, but he was later pronounced dead, Mylett said. Mylett declined to say Sunday whether the shooting was justified and added that when a police officer “makes the most critical decision of his life” and points a gun at someone and shoots, he has to explain “for every round down the barrel of a gun .” A handgun, a loaded magazine and an apparent wedding ring were found in the car seat. A casing consistent with the gun was later found in the area where officers believed a shot had come from the vehicle. Protests took place in Akron after Walker’s shooting, but intensified after the video was released. AFP via Getty Images Walker called for accountability, but also urged protesters to remain peaceful. Reuters State Attorney General Dave Yost promised a “full, fair and expert investigation” by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and warned that “body-worn camera footage is only one view of the whole picture.” Akron police are conducting a separate internal investigation into whether the officers violated department rules or policies. The officers involved in the shooting are on paid administrative leave, which is standard practice in such cases. Seven of the officers are white and one is black, according to the department. Their length of service with Akron police ranges from a year and a half to six years, and none of them have a history of discipline, documented complaints or fatal shootings, he said. NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement that Walker’s death was not self-defense, but “was murder. Point blank.” Walker’s family is asking for accountability as well as peace, their lawyers said. One of the lawyers, Bobby DiCello, called the rash of police shootings excessive and senseless and said police handcuffed Walker before he tried to administer first aid. The NAACP described Walker’s killing as “murder. Point blank.” Reuters “How I got to this with a chase is beyond me,” DiCello said. He said Walker’s family doesn’t know why he ran from police. Walker was grieving the recent death of his fiancee, but his family had no indication of concern beyond that, and he was not a criminal, DiCello said. “They want to turn him into a masked monster with a gun,” DiCello said. “I ask you, as he leaves, what is reasonable? Shoot him? No, it doesn’t make sense.” The lawyer added: “I hope we remember that as Jayland ran across that parking lot, he was unarmed.” By postal cables
