AKRON, Ohio — After taking a break on Wednesday out of respect for Jayland Walker's funeral, Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan and Police Chief Steve Mylett resumed their daily press conferences on Thursday to discuss the 25-year-old's death at the hands of Akron Police last month.
The press conference can be viewed in the player above and WKYC's YouTube page.
Thursday's press conference came one day after friends, family, community leaders and the general public gathered at the Akron Civic Theatre to pay their respects at Walker's funeral. Among those to speak following the funeral was Tamika Mallory of Until Freedom, who called for accountability from police following Walker's death.
"We need to ... reclaim the narrative, and that narrative should be 'arrest the cops,'" Mallory said. "Lock up all the cops who are responsible for taking the life of a 25-year-old young man who was unarmed at the time that he was lynched in front of the entire world."
The incident involving Walker took place just after midnight on Monday, June 27, when officers attempted to pull over his car for a traffic and equipment violation. Walker proceeded to lead the officers on a high-speed chase down East Tallmadge Avenue toward State Route 8.
At some point during the pursuit, police say that Walker fired a gun out of the window of his car. Among the footage released on July 3 was a traffic video that showed a flash coming out of Walker’s car that they say is consistent with a gunshot.
Following the six-minute-long chase, Walker exited the car on Wilbeth Road near the Bridgestone Tire offices while wearing a black ski mask. The footage shows officers attempting to deploy non-lethal tasers before firing their guns and striking Walker, who was unarmed at the time of the shooting. While Horrigan couldn't confirm how man shots were fired at Walker, he said that he expected the number to be "high" and that the initial medical reports showed that he had 60 bullet wounds.
Police said that they fired their guns because Walker made a motion that caused them to fear for their lives. Mylett said that while it is difficult to see in a real-time viewing of the video, screen captures from the footage show Walker making multiple movements -- including Walker moving his hand to his waist area, turning toward the officers and making a forward motion with his arm -- that he said that each officer involved believed to be Walker moving into a “firing” position.
A gun, magazine round, and gold wedding ring were found in the passenger seat of Walker’s car. Mylett said that officers attempted to perform life-saving aid at the scene before Walker was pronounced dead.
Per department policy, the officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave. Seven of the eight officers involved were white and none had previously faced work-related discipline. Walker is Black.
The incident is being investigated by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
In the days following the incident and release of the bodycam footage on July 3, protests in the Akron area have resulted in several arrests and prompted Horrigan to implement multiple curfews in the downtown area, including one from 11 p.m.-5 a.m., which has remained in effect since on Monday night.
