The eight Akron Police officers who fatally shot Jayland Walker will not be indicted.
A Summit County grand jury concluded that officers were legally justified in their actions, said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, during a press conference Monday.
There will be no state-level criminal charges, he said.
The decision means the jury, which was seated last week, found there was not enough credible evidence to suggest the officers could be charged with a crime. They evaluated each of the eight officers individually and went over possible charges with a special prosecutor from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI). BCI handled the investigation into the shooting.
Investigators conducted more than 100 interviews, including of the eight officers who fired their weapons, according to an attorney with the attorney general's office.
They reviewed bodycam footage clips from the eight officers who fired their weapons and four officers who responded after and surveillance video from businesses and ring cameras in the area.
Walker, 25, had no criminal history and he delivered for DoorDash and Amazon, the attorney said.
In the month before his killing, Walker visited a firing range with a friend, according to the investigation. Two weeks later, he purchased the handgun police say they found in his card. He had virtually no prior experience with firearms, the attorney general said.
There is also evidence that Walker was also involved in a police pursuit that was called off for safety reasons in the weeks before his killing.
Officers fatally shot Walker, 25, after a car and foot chase in the early hours of June 27. Police say he fired a gun during the pursuit but was unarmed when they shot him.
Walker was wounded or grazed more than 46 times in the shooting, according to the Summit County Medical Examiner’s office.
The special grand jury, which was made up of Summit County residents, reviewed evidence including testimony from experts, witness reports and audio and video recordings from the incident.
BCI will likely release the findings of its investigation on its website. Ideastream Public Media will look through the records to provide more information about the officers who were involved and what investigators found.
Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan and Police Chief Steve Mylett will address the decision and take questions from the press in a news briefing at 5:30 at the Akron Water Reclamation Facility.
Walker's mother and sister, Pamela and Jada, as well as the family's attorney Bobby DiCello are holding a news conference at St. Ashworth Temple of Church of God in Christ on Vernon Odom Boulevard. Rep. Emilia Sykes will be there, as well as Judi Hill from the Akron branch of the NAACP and Ray Greene Jr. from Akron activist group Freedom BLOC.
Decision reopens wounds from last year
Walker’s death drew national attention and sparked protests and calls for police reform in Akron.
In the months after the shooting, residents collected signatures on a ballot initiative to create a civilian police oversight board that will monitor complaints brought against Akron Police. The review board passed by a vote of 62% in November and was seated in March of this year.
The Akron Police Department will now do an internal review of the shooting to determine whether officers followed the department’s policies, according to a city spokesperson.
Protests and vigils have already taken place in the days leading up to the decision and more demonstrations are planned in the coming days.
Akron prepares for the decision
Akron began preparing for the grand jury decision more than a week ago with plywood going up on some of the windows on the Municipal Building and concrete barriers put at standby at intersections on High Street around what's been designated by the city as a protest zone in front of the Stubbs Justice Center, which houses the Akron Police Department. By late last week, many fencing and barricades had gone up in front of the courthouse and the Stubbs Center and the windows and storefronts for a number of buildings in surrounding blocks had been boarded up.
Akron City Council had already announced that Monday's regularly scheduled meeting would take place via Zoom. Summit County Council canceled its April 17th meeting.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
