By Brendan O’Brien
(Reuters) – An autopsy found that eight Akron, Ohio, police officers shot Jayland Walker 46 times, including five times in the back, when they opened fire and killed the unarmed Black man during a traffic stop three weeks ago, a medical examiner said on Friday.
During a news conference, Summit County Medical Examiner Lisa Kohler said her autopsy also determined that Walker, 25, had no drugs or alcohol in his system when he was shot and killed by police on June 27.
The shooting was the latest in a series of killings of Black men by law enforcement in the United States that critics say are unjustified. One of those killings, the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, ignited global protests against police brutality and racial injustice.
Since the incident in Akron, protesters have held demonstrations in the city of about 200,000 people calling for police to be held accountable for the shooting and for justice for Walker, who was laid to rest on Thursday.
Kohler said Walker was also struck in the torso, pelvis, legs and face by gunfire when officers opened fire on him after they attempted to pull him over for a minor traffic violation and he fled.
After a chase of several minutes, Walker jumped out of the car and ran from the officers, a video released by police showed. Police said it appears he was turning toward officers, who at the time believed he was armed. A gun was later recovered from his car, they said.
Kohler said that her office did not do a gunshot residue test on Walker, saying the testing is not always reliable.
It was previously reported that Walker had more than 60 wounds to his body, but Kohler on Friday said that some of those wounds were not from gunfire.
The eight officers directly involved in the shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave, Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said.
(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago)
