(CNN) A special grand jury in Ohio declined to indict Akron police officers who killed Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man, multiple times after a car chase and foot chase last year. .
The grand jury concluded that the officers were legally justified in their use of force, according to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
The incident occurred just after midnight on June 27, 2022, when police initiated a traffic stop on a 2005 Buick vehicle with a broken license plate light, according to authorities. The driver of the vehicle, later identified as Walker, sped away from officers and fired shots in his vehicle during the car chase, according to police.
Walker then got out of the car wearing a ski mask and led police on a foot chase, ignoring commands to stop and show his hands, Yost said. Officers tried to use non-lethal Tasers to chase him down, Yost said. Walker then made a motion that officers interpreted as threatening, which led to the shooting, Yost said.
“He grabbed his waist in what many officers described as a cross-draw motion, pointed his foot and turned toward the officers while raising his hand,” Yost said. “That’s when the officers opened fire, believing that Mr. Walker was shooting at them again.”
“The law allows officers to use deadly force to protect themselves or others against a deadly threat,” he added.
Walker was unarmed at the time he was killed, according to police. A gun was found in his car after the shooting and the ballistics of a shot fired nearby matched the weapon, Yost said.
A week after the shooting, police released a narrated video timeline of the shooting that showed portions of body camera videos from 13 officers at the scene, as well as images captured from the cameras. in traffic.
Eight police officers fired a total of 94 shots at Walker in 6.7 seconds, according to the investigation. Three of the officers fired 18 shots each.
Walker suffered 46 gunshot wounds or graze wounds, according to an autopsy by Summit County Medical Examiner Dr. Lisa Kohler. However, Walker was handcuffed after the shooting, a move by police that “added insult to a terrible loss,” family attorney Bobby DiCello told CNN last year.
DiCello said Monday the family will file a civil lawsuit. “We will file it before the one-year anniversary of his death,” he said.
Walker has no criminal record and works as a delivery driver for DoorDash and Uber Eats.
A firearm, shell casings and a gold wedding ring were found in Walker’s car the night of his death, according to the investigation. His fiancee, Jaymeisha Beasley, died in a car accident a month ago, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.
When asked if Walker may have been seeking “suicide by police” at the time of the shooting, Pierson said there was no direct evidence for this motive.
However, their investigation found that Walker was going through a “difficult time” and was “not acting (like) himself,” he said. No drugs or alcohol were in Walker’s system when he was shot, Pierson said.
The police department announced an internal investigation
Walker’s death prompted an investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, along with protests over racial injustice and police use of force — some of which erupted into violence, resulting in damage to local businesses. , Akron police said.
The bureau’s investigation was then turned over to a special prosecutor, who presented the case to a grand jury last week. Ohio law allows the officers themselves to testify before the grand jury, a setup that DiCello said “favors the officers.”
Yost said they could not say if any of the eight officers involved testified before the grand jury.
The special grand jury consisted of nine people: three men and six women, according to Ohio Assistant Attorney General Anthony Pierson. Two of the jurors were Black.
In Ohio, at least seven out of nine jurors must vote in favor of charges for an indictment to fall, but Yost said they are prevented by law from discussing the final vote.
Investigators with the Ohio Attorney General’s office conducted more than 100 interviews and reviewed footage from more than 50 body-worn cameras, Pierson said. They also reviewed relevant surveillance video, including 25 videos from the Ohio Department of Transportation, according to Pierson.
Following the grand jury’s decision, Akron Police Chief Stephen Mylett announced that the police department will begin an internal investigation into the fatal shooting. This will include a review of the entire incident, including police training and procedures, Mylett said, to determine if any police policies or procedures were violated and if any policies need to be changed. .
The results will be made public when they are completed, he said.
The eight officers “directly involved” in the shooting were initially placed on administrative leave and reinstated on Oct. 10 — a decision Mylett attributed to “personnel issues” in comments to CNN affiliate WEWS. While back on the job, the officers were not in uniform or responding to calls for service, the Akron Police Department said.
The department will not release their identities for their safety and the safety of their families, Mylett said. The threats against the police involved “are believed to be active, viable, and credible,” he said.
Public schools will be closed as the city prepares for protests
All Akron Public Schools were closed Tuesday in anticipation of the announcement of the grand jury’s decision, according to spokesman Mark Williamson.
Akron city officials have set up a “demonstration zone” located in downtown Akron outside City Hall and in front of the police department for “peaceful, civil, demonstrations,” Mylett said Monday.
The protest zone will be open for 24 hours a day, for the next seven days, Mylett said.
Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan and Mylett called for peaceful demonstrations.
“While I know this is not the outcome that some members of our community want, I want to reiterate that this investigation was conducted independently,” Horrigan said. “An outside agency conducted the investigation into Mr. Walker’s death from start to finish.”