Dr. Lisa Kohler, the Summit County Forensic Physician, talks about the results of a preliminary autopsy she performed on Jayland Walker during a press conference at the Summit County Health Board office on July 15. 2022 in Akron, Ohio. David Dermer / The Associated Press
An autopsy found that eight police officers from Akron, Ohio, 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 years ago. weeks, a forensic doctor said Friday.
During a press conference, Summit County coroner Lisa Kohler said her autopsy also determined that Walker, 25, had no drugs or alcohol in his system when he was killed by police on June 27. .
The shooting was the latest in a series of murders of black men by law enforcement in the United States that critics say are unjustified. One such assassination, the 2020 assassination of George Floyd in Minneapolis, sparked global protests against police brutality and racial injustice.
Since the Akron incident, protesters have held demonstrations in the city of some 200,000 people demanding that police be held responsible for the shooting and that justice be done for Walker, who was buried Thursday.
Kohler said Walker was also hit in the torso, pelvis, legs and face by gunfire when officers opened fire on him after trying to stop him for a minor traffic violation and he fled.
After a several-minute chase, Walker jumped out of the car and fled from officers, showing a video released by police. Police said he appeared to be heading towards officers, who at the time believed he was armed. A gun was later recovered from his car, they said.
Kohler said his office did not conduct a shooting waste test on Walker, saying the tests are not always reliable.
Walker had previously been reported to have more than 60 injuries to his body, but Kohler said Friday that some of those injuries were not from gunshot wounds.
The eight officers directly involved in the shooting have been put on paid administrative leave, Akron police chief Steve Mylett said.
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