AKRON, Ohio — Jayland Walker, the Ohio man shot by Akron police after an attempted traffic stop late last month, had 46 entrance gunshot wounds or graze injuries on his body, according to autopsy results released Friday.
Walker, 25, was killed on June 27 after Akron police said he had fired a gun during a car chase, The Washington Post reported. Eight police officers fired bullets after the chase when Walker was unarmed, according to the newspaper.
At a news conference, Summit County Medical Examiner Lisa Kohler said Walker’s death was due to blood loss from internal injuries. The cause of death was officially listed as multiple gunshot wounds, Kohler said.
JUST IN: Medical examiner says Jayland Walker, 25-year-old Black man fatally shot by police in Akron, Ohio, was shot 46 times and died due to blood loss. https://t.co/EZMkHBKc5f pic.twitter.com/gkBWHqeAFG
— ABC News (@ABC) July 15, 2022
His death has been ruled a “homicide, shot by others” by the medical examiner’s office, the Post reported. The ruling is a medical ruling and not a legal conclusion, according to the newspaper.
Kohler said there were 46 entrance wounds or graze injuries in Walker’s body, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. Graze injuries are caused when a bullet runs along the surface of the skin but does not enter a specific area of the body, she said.
Kohler added there were 15 additional exit wounds.
Kohler said that Walker had 15 gunshot wounds to his torso, 17 gunshots to his pelvis and upper legs, one bullet to his face, eight to his arms and right hand, and five to his knees, lower right leg and right foot, NBC News reported.
“There are 46 entrance wounds. There are 15 exit wounds, and five of the wounds that would be in with the entrances are graze wounds,” Kohler told reporters. “We are not able to say which bullet killed him. He had several devastating injuries that could cause death.
“He’s got injuries to his heart, he’s got injuries to both lungs, which also bleed extensively and has an injury to the right iliac artery,” Kohler added.
Tests revealed no evidence of drugs or alcohol in Walker’s system, Kohler said.
Akron police attempted to pull Walker over for an unspecified traffic stop at about 12:30 a.m. EDT on June 27 but the chase turned into a foot pursuit, WEWS-TV reported.
“It went from being a routine traffic stop to now a public safety issue,” Akron police Chief Steve Mylett said last week after the department released two videos. One was narrated and edited to show key moments in the pursuit and eventual shooting.
Police said in a statement that Walker discharged a gun while he was driving, but did not specify how they knew that, The New York Times reported. After a few minutes, Walker slowed down his car and fled on foot wearing a ski mask while the vehicle was still moving. Officers then chased Walker into a parking lot, police said.
Mylett called the footage, which was blurred to obscure Walker, “difficult to watch” and “shocking.”
“When an officer makes the most critical decision in his or her life as a police officer, when they fire an arm at another human being, they have to be ready to explain why they did what they did -- they need to be able to articulate what specific threats they were facing,” Mylett told reporters Sunday. “And that goes for every round that goes down the barrel of their gun. And they need to be held to account.”
The medical examiner’s office did not test for the presence of gunshot residue on Walker’s hands, the Beacon Journal reported. Akron police accused Walker of firing what appeared to be a gunshot out the window, CNN reported. A gun was found in his car later. Walker was unarmed when he was killed, police said.
Attorneys representing the Walker family said after the news conference that the autopsy report “confirms the violent and unnecessary use of force by the Akron Police Department,” the Post reported.
“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,” Walker’s family said in a statement. “The family is devastated by the findings of the report and still await a public apology from the police department.”
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