Today in cops gone feral

Akron police celebrate the 4th of July. Actually, they shoot a Black man 60 times during a traffic stop and 4th of July festivities are cancelled.

 

60 times.

 

They fired 90+ shots.

 

And the video gets released tomorrow.

 

The cops said he shot at them during the chase, but it sounds sketchy. According to one of the Akron Beacon-Journal's stories, the cop who initiated the pursuit reported the shot in the early stages of the chase and a traffic camera might have picked up a flash from Walker's car that might or might not have been a muzzle flash, but that has not yet been confirmed. So it's just as possible that Walker did shoot at the cop as it is that the cop heard or saw something that he mistook for a gunshot.
Walker also did himself no favors by running from the initial traffic stop, and then fleeing on foot at the end of the car chase.

That said, why it took 90 shots (60 hit the target) to take him down, and how they all managed to converge on the scene and open fire at the same time, is something the cops need to answer for. From all accounts so far it seems there was the amount of chaos you'd expect from a car chase and ensuing foot pursuit. This doesn't sound like one of the normal scenarios for officer-involved shootings — a jittery cop, a hand-to-hand struggle with a belligerent suspect, an escalation when the Tazer didn't work, or a suspect making a move with something in their hand. When eight or 10 cops rip off 90 shots at once and hit someone 60 times, that's damn near an organized firing squad. Especially at a fleeing suspect, that's a strangely high level of precision.
So, as always, the central question is, "Where and how did this thing go off the rails?"

Another weird detail from those stories: When the medical examiner showed up, they said Walker was on his back and handcuffed. WTF? The guy has 60 bullet holes in him, including a few head shots, was likely obviously dead, and they still felt the need to cuff him?

 

Akron police have released the bodycam footage in the Jayland Walker case.
The presentation starts about 16 minutes in, and the full footage about 21 minutes in.
The footage is from the officer who initiated the traffic stop and pursuit. He reports a shot fired from the car very early in the chase, and the chase goes on for about seven more minutes. A bunch of other cops joined the pursuit during that time. Walker eventually slows the car and, even without stopping it and with the car surrounded by cops with guns drawn, gets out and tries make a run for it on foot across a field. He was wearing a ski mask when he got out of the car. He soon stops and turns toward the officers.
The footage is hard to see during the foot chase, because the officer is running and the camera is bouncing around. They did have some stills that I presume are from other officers. Apparently at least some of the cops tried to take him down with Tasers, which didn't work (or they missed), and then they quickly pulled their guns and fired. Seems like they emptied their clips into him or at him (6 officers x 15 bullets per gun = 90 shots) and someone yells "cease fire." The gunshots last about 7 seconds.

 

The Bonnie and Clyde death car had 167 bullet holes.

 

The ones that work forces are the same ones who burn crosses.
A Michigan police chief has apologized after it emerged that the department used images of Black men during target practice - CNN

 

The number of shots is bad, but I'm more curious about where the officers were standing where eight of them had a clean line on the suspect without endangering an officer. Basic officer instruction is that you empty your weapon if you believe a suspect poses a threat to the life of yourself or another person, and the guns are such that they probably emptied their clips in four seconds, not really enough time to gauge if the suspect is getting up or had a vest on or whatever. In general, you don't want that many officers firing their weapons and putting that much lead in the air - in the dark no less.

 

Against an unarmed door dash driver no less.

 

Of course - I was just saying that the number of shots can be explained. A lot of the other stuff can't.

 

A thread from a journalist who writes about police shootings and the fear that they have engaging with the public.