JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Activists and demonstrators on Friday evening gathered in front of the Duval County Courthouse, speaking out about the death of Jayland Walker, who was fatally shot by police in Akron, Ohio.
The case has gained national attention. Eight officers reportedly fired more than 60 shots. Investigators said Walker was not carrying a firearm at the time of the shooting.
Members of the Jacksonville Community Action Committee led the rally for the 25-year-old. Demonstrators stood in the rain under umbrellas -- and with their children,
Emily Harwood, who attended the rally, said the treatment of Walker is unfair, considering recent mass shootings where suspects have been taken into custody without harm.
“Still 60 bullets. Doesn’t matter. There is no excuse for it, there is no justification for it,” Harwood said. “They take people every day who reach for something or people who have actually shot people. People who have guns in their hands and are shooting at police, They can still take them alive so there is no excuse for that.”
Monique Sampson, with the Jacksonville Community Action Committee, says it’s past time for the community to have a say in holding police accountable, and the group feels doing so will lead to less shootings involving police officers.
“If police officers believe that they can kill without being held accountable, they’re going to continue to do so,” Sampson said.
They say the video that captured the shooting, which lasted several seconds, is another reason why something must change.
“We can go on and on and on and look at the list of school shooters and public shooters and mass shooters in general that are apprehended peacefully by police even after they kill a lot of people. What’s the difference?” Sampson said.
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 a.m. 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. Police 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.
Mylett said Walker’s actions are hard to distinguish on the video in real time, but a still photo seems to show him “going down to his waist area” and another appears to show him turning toward an officer. He said a third picture “captures a forward motion of his arm.”
Sampson said she feels the details attempt to criminalize the man.
“You unload 60 bullets into him before he even has a chance to surrender, or he even has a chance to be apprehended by you because you are deciding as a police officer to be the judge, jury, and executioner,” Sampson said. “That’s just not right.”