Video shows cops kill unarmed US Black man in hail of gunfire

Akron, July 4

A Black man was unarmed when the Akron police chased him on foot and killed him in a hail of gunfire, but officers believed he had shot at them earlier from a vehicle and feared he was preparing to fire again, authorities said on Sunday at a news conference.

Family calls for accountability

• Demonstrators marched peacefully through the city and gathered in front of the Akron justice centre after the video was released
• Walker’s family is calling for accountability but also for peace, their lawyers said.

The Akron police released a video of the shooting of Jayland Walker, 25, who was killed June 27 in a pursuit that had started with an attempted traffic stop. The mayor called the shooting “heartbreaking” while asking for patience from the community.

It’s not clear how many shots were fired by the eight officers involved, but Walker sustained more than 60 wounds. An attorney for Walker’s family said officers kept firing even after he was on the ground.

Officers attempted to stop Walker’s car around 12.30 am for unspecified traffic and equipment violations, but less than a minute into a pursuit, the sound of a shot was heard from the car, and a transportation department camera captured what appeared to be a muzzle flash coming from the vehicle, Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said. That changed the nature of the case from “a routine traffic stop to now a public safety issue”, he said.

Police body camera videos show what unfolded after the roughly six-minute pursuit.

Several shouting officers with guns drawn approach the slowing car on foot, as it rolls up over a curb and onto a sidewalk. A person wearing a ski mask exits the passenger door and runs toward a parking lot. Cops chase him for about 10 seconds before officers fire from multiple directions, in a burst of shots that lasts 6 or 7 seconds.

At least one officer had tried first to use a stun gun, but that was unsuccessful, police said. —AP

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