The tragic killing of Jayland Walker has led to a community outraged with the local police department. Officers involved in the shooting have been placed on leave, pending an investigation.
In Akron, Ohio on June 27th police fired upwards of more than 90 rounds at Walker, an action that many in the community have taken as excessive.
Now, the community mourns the senseless loss of life.
Police say they pulled Walker over for a traffic stop for equipment violations. Walker fled the stop, leading to a car and later foot chase.
Police argue that Walker had fired at them during the car chase. A gun was later recovered from his vehicle.
After the chase proceeded on foot, officers tried to use their tasers on Walker. When those failed, according to officers, Walker turned and looked to be ready to attack.
In the videos, dozens of gunshots are heard as eight police officers unload their weapons into the young man’s body.
It’s a truly horrific scene.
The wounds are so bad, that the examiner is having difficulty determining which are entrance wounds, and which are exit wounds. However, it does seem like most of the 60 or so shots that hit Walker were to the front of his body.
At the center of this issue is the claim that Walker fired his own weapon at the officers during the car chase. According to the police, there was reason to fear for their lives.
But the public isn’t buying it. Walker doesn’t have a past criminal record, and the gun was recovered from the car, meaning he was unarmed at the time of the shooting.
The public doesn’t like the thought of police killing yet another unarmed black man.
Police say they applied aid at the scene, but Walker was shot so many times, it didn’t help. Instead, they placed his dead body in handcuffs.
Walker’s death has been ruled a homicide and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is looking into the actions of the eight officers.
Over the weekend, bodycam footage of the incident was released. The public decided to protest in Walker’s name, which led to a violent respond from police.
During a protest on Sunday, police deployed tear gas and arrested about 50 people.
The reaction and the specific incident with Walker has been compared unfavorably to the way police have responded to other suspected criminals.
In Highland Park, Illnois, Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III was recently apprehended by police in connection with a mass shooting.
Walker’s protesters were amazed how easily police seemed to take custody of one violent criminal, but used such excessive violence on the other.
Enough to make you think.
The protests and police riot response has led to a curfew in place in Akron, Ohio. This caused the fireworks display to be canceled for the Fourth of July.
In time, we’ll keep an eye on the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s report.
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