Jayland Walker Was Shot 46 Times By Police

An Ohio medical examiner found that police fatally shot Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man, a total of 46 times, including a bullet to his face.

Walker was killed by police on June 27 after being pulled over for a traffic violation in Akron, Ohio. After he slowed down and got out of the vehicle, eight officers followed him on foot into a parking lot. Harrowing videos show police chasing Walker and firing multiple rounds at him. He was handcuffed and pronounced dead at the scene.

On Friday, medical examiner Dr. Lisa Kohler detailed Walker’s autopsy in a news conference, revealing that the 46 shots were both graze and entrance wounds and confirming his cause of death was due to blood loss. His death has been ruled a homicide.

Kohler announced that Walker suffered 15 gunshot wounds injured the torso, 17 to the pelvis, eight shots to the arms and right hand, five to the legs, and one to the face.

“We should not be here today and Jayland should not be in this box,” Bishop Timothy Clarke said at Walker’s funeral two days ago, according to local news reports. “There is nothing right here.”

Initial reports immediately after his death from Bobby DiCello, the family’s attorney, said that the Akron police chief had told Walker’s family that police fired more than 90 rounds at him, striking him more than 60 times, with Friday’s medical examiner’s report confirming Walker was hit dozens of times. His toxicology screening was negative for drugs and alcohol.

The legal team for Walker’s family issued a statement Friday saying medical examiner’s report “confirms the violent and unnecessary use of force by the Akron Police department on an unarmed young man who, as the family expected, was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.”

“That Jayland suffered 46 gunshot wounds to his body is horrific,” the statement continued. “The fact that after being hit nearly four dozen times, officers still handcuffed him while he lay motionless and bleeding on the ground is absolutely inhumane. The family is devastated by the findings of the report and still await a public apology from the police department.”

Walker’s death is yet another in the countless police killings of Black people. Many protests have occurred in the weeks after Walker’s death. CBS reported that Breonna Taylor’s aunt, Bianca Austin, and Jacob Blake’s father, Jacob Blake Sr., were arrested along with others during a protest for Walker last Thursday.