The eight Akron, Ohio, police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black motorist who was shot 46 times in June 2022, were in compliance with the department’s use of force policies, an internal investigation has found.
The findings come seven months after a special grand jury declined to bring charges against the officers, finding they were justified in their use of force.
Walker’s death June 27, 2022, after an attempted traffic stop sparked days of demonstrations in the city and renewed outrage over police violence.
Police officers tried to pull him over for an alleged traffic violation, a darkened license plate light, and a car chase ensued. During that pursuit, they “reported a firearm being discharged from the suspect vehicle,” the Akron Police Department said.
When Walker jumped out of his moving car, officers pursued him on foot and eventually opened fire. The eight officers fired 94 shots in about 6.7 seconds, prosecutors previously said. An autopsy determined he was hit 46 times. Walker was unarmed at the time, but a gun was found in his car.
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Two probes were launched into the fatal shooting, one by the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation that led to the grand jury’s decision and the other by the police department that concluded Tuesday.
Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said the department’s internal investigation concluded the officers were “in compliance” with police policies.
“I found that the facts and circumstances of this tragic shooting show that the officers had an objectively reasonable belief that Mr. Walker was armed and by his conduct presented an imminent risk of serious bodily injury or death to them and/or their fellow officers,” he said in a statement.
The department’s probe found an officer involved in the Walker shooting had an extension to his agency magazine that increased capacity up to six additional rounds the night of the shooting, as well as two rounds of “training” ammunition. That officer told authorities he thought it was allowed and wouldn’t knowingly violate agency policies.
A review of policies and procedures found “an absence of clear language addressing the topic.” Ultimately, Mylett said that officer did not “intentionally violate” any polices, the agency has “adjusted policies where needed” and the officer involved was verbally counseled “to pay closer attention when reloading his magazines.”
