At least one video published this Sunday by the Akron Police (Ohio, USA) shows how eight officers fired dozens of times to kill the African-American Jayland Walker, who had started running to flee from a traffic control.
The death of Walker, in whose body 60 gunshot wounds were found, has sparked strong protests in the city of Akron.
At a news conference on Sunday, Akron Police Chief Stephen Mylett described the footage as “shocking” and “hard to watch.”
As he explained, the agents tried to stop the vehicle in which Walker was traveling at 12:30 a.m. Monday for a traffic violation and, when he did not stop, they began to chase him.
At one point in the chase, Walker allegedly fired a shot from his vehicle, something the deceased’s family disputes.
Shortly afterward, Walker got out of his vehicle and began running toward a parking lot as officers chased him and shot at him, deeming him a “deadly threat” to his life, according to a statement released Tuesday by the Akron Police Department.
Walker, 25, was later pronounced dead in the car park to which he had fled.
Family attorney Bobby DiCello has called on protesters to remain calm and on Friday spoke to the local Akron Beacon Journal to give details of the “brutal” videos released today in an attempt to prepare the community.
Some of the videos that the police showed in their press conference came from the cameras that the officers wear on their uniforms.
The eight agents involved in the event have been suspended from their duties while what happened is investigated.
Residents of Akron have taken to the streets in recent days to peacefully demonstrate and call on the police to account for Walker’s death.
The city’s mayor, Dan Horrigan, has canceled the festivities for US Independence Day, which is celebrated tomorrow, July 4.
Walker’s death is added to that of other African Americans at the hands of the police, such as George Floyd, suffocated by a white police officer in Minneapolis (Minnesota) in May 2020.
His death sparked the largest anti-racism protests since the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr in the late 1960s.
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