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Jayland Walker death: Police officers accused of killing Black man will not face criminal charges

Jayland Walker's car was chased by the police officers on a freeway and city streets until Walker bailed from the still-moving vehicle

AKRON, OHIO: A grand jury declined to indict the eight police officers who are accused of fatally shooting Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man they and will not face criminal charges, Ohio’s attorney general said on Monday, April 17. The unfortunate incident led to widespread protests in Akron after police released body camera footage showing him dying in a barrage of bullets. 

Although the authorities did not detail much about the ordeal, they claimed that Walker refused to stop when they tried to pull him over for minor equipment and traffic violations. Police noted Walker fired a shot from his car 40 seconds into the pursuit. The car was chased by the police officers on a freeway and city streets until Walker bailed from the still-moving vehicle. Walker then apparently ignored officers’ commands and ran into a parking lot, where he was killed while wearing a ski mask, body cam video showed.

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Walker represented a 'deadly threat'

Authorities said he represented a “deadly threat,” and a handgun, a loaded magazine, and a wedding ring were found on the driver’s seat of his car. AG Dave Yost said that Walker fired at least one shot from his vehicle at police and then, after jumping out of his car, he ignored the orders to stop and show his hands.  “There is no doubt he did in fact shoot at police officers,” he added, according to New York Post.

Officers believed Walker was firing at them

As officers were chasing, Walker allegedly reached for his waistband and raised his hand. The officers were unaware that he left his gun in the car and believed he was firing again at them, Yost said. Police union officials said the officers thought there was an immediate threat of serious harm and that their actions were in line with their training and protocols. 

Walker’s family was highly devastated and called it a brutal and senseless shooting of a man who was unarmed at the time. Walker's fiancée had also recently died at that time. It was not evident from the blurry body camera footage what the authorities say was a threatening gesture Walker made before he was killed. Police chased him for about 10 seconds before officers fired from multiple directions, which lasted about six or seven seconds.

The eight unnamed police officers were initially placed on leave, but they returned to administrative duties less than four months after the shooting. A county medical examiner said Walker was shot at least 40 times. The autopsy also said no illegal drugs or alcohol were detected in his body.

A similar incident in Ohio

The US Department of Justice announced that the prosecutors reviewing the independent federal investigation into the fatal shooting of Tamir Rice on November 22, 2014, in Cleveland, Ohio, found insufficient evidence to support federal criminal charges against Cleveland Division of Police (CDP) Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback. According to Meaww, Tamir attended sixth grade at Marion-Seltzer Elementary School in Cleveland and was described as a pleasant young man who enjoyed art and played sports. The 12-year-old was shot dead by a White police officer when he was playing with a pellet gun outside a recreation center in Cleveland, Ohio. The child was with a toy gun, which the police mistook for a real one and shot him within seconds of arriving at the spot. 

Later, the surveillance video of the shooting gained global attention, which led to Rice becoming an icon for the Black Lives Matter movement. After her son’s death, Rice's mother Samaria, in an interview with ABC News, recounted her emotional journey and spoke about her son. "People used to joke and say my son was going to be with me until he was 35 years old. They probably would have been right. He was mommy’s baby. Tamir had just turned 12 years old and was transitioning from playing with Legos to playing video games and becoming a teen."

Twitter users were also disappointed to see the accused officers get away scot-free. One tweeted, "Pretty much on brand for Ohio cops, the same cops who gunned down a 12-year-old with a toy gun in 10 seconds. And again no repercussions for these cold blooded killers." Another wrote, "I stopped reading at Ohio, because I knew how it would end. My sincerest sympathies to Jayland’s friends and family." One opined, "I grew up in Akron and the police there have been a major problem for decades" while another wrote, "Not surprised. OH is deep red now, not even close to purple. They are never going to held accountable here." "Poor guy guilty of driving while black. So sorry for his family", tweeted another user.

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