June 23 (UPI) -- Civil-rights groups are calling on the Department of Justice to investigate the fatal 2022 Akron, Ohio, police shooting of Jayland Walker.
Color of Change, The Freedom Bloc and 23 other groups wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday, urging Walker's death be investigated.
"We specifically urge the DOJ to open a federal civil-rights investigation of the officers involved in the killing of Jayland Walker and to pursue a pattern or practice investigation of the Akron Police Department for civil rights violations," the letter said.
Walker was hit 46 times by gunfire from eight officers who collectively fired more than 90 shots within 6.7 seconds of Walker's leaving his car to flee police unarmed on foot, according to the civil-rights groups.
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Police said Walker fired a gun while driving away to evade police, but Walker family attorney Bobby DiCello disputes that. A gun was found in the vehicle, but according to DiCello, all windows in the vehicle were intact and police did not describe how the gun was fired from the car.
The groups say that the Akron police department has an "extensive record of disproportionate violence against Black communities, including high rates of deadly use of force and non-lethal use of force and racial disparities in police killings and arrests."
The groups said in their letter, "Eight officers fired more than 90 shots at Mr. Walker within 6.7 seconds, and they continued to shoot even after Mr. Walker collapsed. Three of the eight officers fired 18 shots each during the incident. Autopsy results show that Mr. Walker's body was hit 46 times."
In April, an Ohio grand jury decided eight Akron officers won't face criminal charges in the shooting, determining that the officers' actions were justified.
Ohio Attorney General David Yost called it a tragedy but said the grand jury found police justified in their actions.
The groups said the Akron officers' actions raise serious questions about the department's patterns and practices.
They said between 2013 and 2021, Akron police officers killed eight people, and 40% of them were Black.
