Authorities in Akron, Ohio, were bracing for new protests as a deadline approached Sunday for the release of police body-camera video in the death of Jayland Walker, a Black motorist who was fatally shot after running from officers during a traffic stop.
Demonstrators have gathered for four straight days this week, demanding police accountability after Walker, 25, was killed early Monday.
The Akron police department was expected to provide details of the shooting, including body-camera footage, at a Sunday afternoon news conference alongside the city’s mayor. Officials would also release the footage at that time.
As a result of the case, Akron’s mayor, Dan Horrigan, cancelled the city’s Rib, White and Blue festival for the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
“Independence Day is meant to be a celebration and a time of gathering with friends and family, the mayor said. “Unfortunately, I feel strongly that this is not the time for a city-led celebration.”
On Saturday, Walker family attorney Bobby DiCello described what he’d seen on the body-cam video, saying it was “brutal”. DiCello told the Akron Beacon Journal that Walker’s relatives worried that protests this weekend could turn violent.
“We’re all bracing for the community’s response, and the one message that we have is the family does not need any more violence,” DiCello said. “The family doesn’t want a violent reaction, they just want peace, dignity and justice for Jayland.”
According to reports, Walker was involved in a chase with law enforcement less than 24 hours before leading police on a high-speed pursuit.
Officials have said the deadly confrontation began when officers tried to stop Walker for a traffic violation while he was driving early Monday morning.
The Akron police department said officers reported a gun being fired from Walker’s vehicle. Walker exited his vehicle and ran, with officers chasing him on foot.
Two officers initially used Tasers before eight officers fired their service weapons more than 90 times, killing Walker and striking his body over 60 times. Walker was then handcuffed on the ground until the medical examiner arrived to pronounce him dead.
Akron police have claimed that Walker presented a “deadly threat”. All eight officers have been placed on administrative leave.
DiCello questioned the police narrative that Walker, an Amazon employee before becoming a driver for DoorDash, had fired a gun while driving away from the traffic stop.
“The rear windshield is intact, the front windshield is intact and all side windows are intact,” he said. “There’s no call, there’s no report that we’ve seen and there’s been no mention by the chief in personal discussions with him that a gun was seen outside the car, waving at or being pointed at anyone.”
DiCello also said the video showed Walker running with his back to officers when they fired. “We’re getting details that suggest 60 to 80 wounds,” DiCello added.
He cautioned that it was not clear how many bullets struck Walker because bullets can cause wounds both entering and exiting the body.
Television station WJW-TV said a preliminary report from the medical examiner’s office found Walker sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his head, torso and legs, and that a weapon was recovered from a car by Ohio’s bureau of criminal investigation, though it did not specify which vehicle.
Ohio congresswoman Shontel Brown, whose district includes Akron, said in a statement: “I am gravely concerned about the killing of a young Black man at the hands of police, especially as it happens all too often across this country.”
Brown urged “the city of Akron and its police department to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation to fully inform Mr Walker’s family and our community and ensure accountability”.
As they braced for protests after the release of the body-cam video, set for 1pm ET, authorities strategically positioned snow plows and other large trucks so as to serve as street barriers.
“We are planning for … demonstrations and ensuring continuity of services are provided to the entire community, including areas in and around downtown,” Lt Michael Miller, an Akron police spokesperson, told NBC News on Friday.
The shooting is the latest in a series of law enforcement killings of Black men, including the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis that ignited global protests against police brutality and racial injustice.
On Saturday, Roderick Pounds Sr, pastor of the Second Baptist church in Akron, said that “protest is a way of crying” after seeing the video prior to its public release.
Pounds said the body-cam footage was “shocking” and showed that Walker posed no threat when he was shot in what he described as a “massacre”.
Walker “did not have a weapon when he was shot”, Pounds added. “It was in his car.”
In an interview with local television station WEWS-TV, Pounds said: “It’s barbaric.”