Grand Jury Declines to Charge Ohio Police Officers in Jayland Walker Shooting
Jayland Walker was killed by police after an attempted traffic stop last summer. Photo: GAELEN MORSE/REUTERS By Joseph Pisani April 17, 2023 5:00 pm ET A grand jury has decided not to charge eight Akron, Ohio, police officers in the death of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man who was shot dozens of times and killed by police after an attempted traffic stop last summer, the state’s attorney general said. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said Monday the grand jury spent more than a week reviewing evidence and decided police were legally justified in using deadly force. Mr. Walker was killed on the morning of June 27, 2022, after police said he fled a traffic stop. During the pursuit, a police officer reported a suspected gunshot comi
Jayland Walker was killed by police after an attempted traffic stop last summer.
Photo: GAELEN MORSE/REUTERS
A grand jury has decided not to charge eight Akron, Ohio, police officers in the death of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man who was shot dozens of times and killed by police after an attempted traffic stop last summer, the state’s attorney general said.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said Monday the grand jury spent more than a week reviewing evidence and decided police were legally justified in using deadly force.
Mr. Walker was killed on the morning of June 27, 2022, after police said he fled a traffic stop.
During the pursuit, a police officer reported a suspected gunshot coming from the driver’s side window of Mr. Walker’s silver Buick, according to video of the incident. Mr. Walker later exited the car from the passenger seat and several officers chased him on foot, with at least one initially trying to subdue him with a Taser. Then, police body camera videos show, multiple officers fired dozens of times at Mr. Walker.
An autopsy released last year said Mr. Walker’s body had 46 gunshot wounds. The eight officers fired a total of 94 times, according to the attorney general’s office. Twenty-six bullets were found in Mr. Walker’s body, Dr. Lisa Kohler, the Summit County chief medical examiner, said last year.
Mr. Yost said Mr. Walker fired at police first, but left the gun in the car and was unarmed when he was shot by police.
A lawyer for the Walker family has previously said the most important fact of the case was that Mr. Walker was running from police without a weapon.
Write to Joseph Pisani at [email protected]
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