Police allege that when they were stopped for a routine check at traffic lights at 00:30 on the night of 27 June, 25-year-old Walker opened fire on them and feared for their lives.
Walker was not armed when he got out of his car and fled, but police said a handgun was later found in the vehicle.
“The video is heartbreaking, hard to understand,” said Mayor of Akron, Daniel Horrigan, following the peaceful anti-racist protests that began in the city with the release of the video, but urged the public to exercise common sense.
State Attorney General Dave Yost also promised that the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation would conduct “a thorough, fair and expert investigation.”
Akron police are also conducting a separate internal investigation into whether officers violated department rules or policies.
Eight police officers, seven white and one black, involved in Walker’s shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave.
The Walker family’s lawyer, Bobby DiCello, said police officers continued to shoot even after Jayland fell to the ground and handcuffed him before giving first aid.
“Anger is fine. Anger is understandable. But violence is not. Let’s protect Jayland’s dignity while peacefully demanding justice for him,” Walker’s family told CBS News.
Derrick Johnson, chairman of the NAACP, a black rights activist, called Walker’s death “murder”.
According to the American news agency Associated Press, Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said that a gunshot was heard in the car and something like a muzzle was seen on the traffic camera.
Police cameras show a man in a ski mask getting out of the car and running towards the parking lot, being chased for about 10 seconds before the police opened fire.
Police point out that an officer first tried to use a stun gun but was unsuccessful, while emphasizing that, in addition to the gun with a full magazine in Walker’s car, a matching shell casing was found nearby.
In the USA, in May 2020, 46-year-old black citizen George Floyd was left breathless by the police by pressing on the root of the neck and lost his life.
Floyd’s death triggered worldwide protests against racism and police brutality under the banner of “Black Lives Matter”.