Police in Akron, Ohio — who fired more than 90 shots at a black motorist earlier this week, killing him — said they would release video of the shooting, as the city braced for protests, according to reports.
Jayland Walker, 25, died after being hit more than 60 times, his family’s attorney said — who has seen the body cam footage in question.
The video is expected to be made public Sunday.
Two police officers used non-lethal Tasers, before eight other officers fired the barrage at Walker, according to 3News Investigates.
“You see two officers deploy their tasers. You don’t notice it, but you learn later that that’s what happens because tasers don’t make a big bang sound,” said Robert DiCello, the attorney for the Walker family. “All a sudden, without warning, and for no reason that I can discern on the video — there’s no hand gestures, there’s no stopping, there’s no turning, there’s no motion, there’s no anything — he (Walker) seems to be turning over his left shoulder to look and then gunfire erupts.”
Akron city officials have cancelled July 4 events as it prepares for demonstrations after the release of the video, according to reports.
Walker died shortly after leading police on a four-minute chase that ended just after midnight Monday. He was killed when he jumped from his slow-moving vehicle and tried to run away, according to reports. Police followed, and initially used Tasers that missed him. Police say that Walker fired his own gun during the chase, that at times reached more than 80 miles per hour. They said they later found a gun and bullet casing inside Walker’s 2005 Buick sedan.
A police officer had tried to stop Walker a day earlier, after he noticed his car had a broken tail light, according to reports.
“We want the community to know about that chase,” DiCello said. “Here’s why: He walked home from that chase. Do you understand? He lived to tell the tale. And that’s exactly what should’ve happened here. There was no reason to kill him. None.”
