8 Akron police officers back on full duty as shooting probe nears end
Internal investigators are wrapping up an administrative review of the fatal police shooting of Jayland Walker with a full report “ready to release” by the end of November, Akron police said.
Meanwhile, the eight officers who fatally shot Walker last year have returned to regular patrol duties after a Summit County grand jury in April cleared them of any criminal charges.
“Based on the independent investigation conducted by BCI and the Summit County grand jury’s decision not to indict, all eight officers are back on full-time, active duty,” Capt. Michael Miller said.
Walker died when a crosstown car chase in which the young man fired a single shot out his driver’s side window ended in a parking lot, where eight officers pursuing on foot collectively shot Walker 46 times.
The eight officers were immediately placed on administrative leave after the June 27, 2022, incident. Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett called in the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Mylett, who announced recently that he will be leaving at the end of this year, called the eight officers back to perform administrative and desk duties to help with a staffing shortage in the Akron Police Department.
A Summit County grand jury this spring heard the evidence collected by BCI and presented by special prosecutor’s with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. The panel of local jurors in April did not vote in the supermajority needed to indict any of the officers criminally.
The next day, Mylett told the Beacon Journal that the city’s internal investigation into any possible policy violations, which was on hold pending the criminal probe, could now begin in earnest. Mylett added that the BCI report provided him with nothing to suggest the officers did anything wrong.
“Nothing is jumping out at me right now,” Mylett said at the time.