Police in Akron, Ohio, have released video of an officer shooting a 15-year-old boy who was holding what his family says was a toy gun, video showing the teen was shot seconds after the officer ordered him to stand up. hands last. week.
Tavion Koonce-Williams was shot in the wrist April 1 in Akron by Officer Ryan Westlake, a nine-year veteran of the department, who was responding to a call about a person pointing a gun at homes. Akron police said the gun Tavion was carrying was a “facsimile.”
On Monday, the city of Akron released the Westlake file, revealing a history of disciplinary actions and use-of-force incidents, as the police department released video of the interaction “in an effort to be as transparent as possible.”
The shooting
Shortly after 7 p.m. on April 1, a woman called police claiming she saw a black man “pull a gun” and begin pointing it at homes in the area of Tonawanda Avenue and Newton Street, Akron police said in a press release the same day.
Westlake was the responding officer. He encountered the person, later identified by his family as Tavion, several blocks away in the area of Brittain Road and Ottawa Avenue, and fired a single bullet that struck him. Tavion was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said in their initial release.
Police said they recovered what appeared to be “a facsimile firearm that the teenager allegedly had in his possession in the moments leading up to the shooting.”
Imokhai Okolo, a lawyer for Tavion’s family, said in a statement on Monday that Tavion had a toy gun.
“Tavion is heard several times saying, ‘It’s a hoax… I just wanted to be safe,’” Okolo said in a declaration Monday, adding that “at no time was that toy gun pointed at anyone’s home, at any individual, and certainly not at any member of the Akron Police Department.”
The video
In the video, Westlake is seen at 7:11 p.m. in his patrol vehicle slowing down when he sees Tavion walking down a block.
“Hey, where are you from, can I see your hands real quick?” Westlake asks through the open window as he begins to exit the vehicle.
Westlake then reaches for his department-issued gun and points it at Tavion, and a shot is fired seconds later.
At the same time, Westlake exclaims “Oh, shit!” when hearing the high — still at 7:11 pm
“Shots fired! Shots fired!” Westlake says as he exits the vehicle. Tavion shouts, “It’s fake! It’s fake!” with hands raised.
Westlake orders him to get on the ground, and Tavion, visibly distressed, immediately complies and repeats: “It’s fake, I promise. Look, it’s a fake gun!”
Westlake tells him to put his hands behind his back. Tavion complies and there is blood visible on his right wrist.
“My hand hurts. Lord, I wanted to be safe!” Tavion exclaims.
“Let’s get a medical team, man,” Westlake says as other officers arrive on the scene. He tries to handcuff Tavion, then removes them from his bloody wrist and asks for a tourniquet.
Another officer applies the tourniquet and asks Tavion if he was hit anywhere else.
“It’s my hand. Please, officer, I’m a good boy. Man, I got straight A’s in school. I play soccer. I just wanted to be safe. My cousin just died,” he says, crying in pain, explaining in the video that he had come from his cousin’s funeral.
The entire interaction lasts four minutes.
The video shows still images with a circle around what appears to be the toy or facsimile gun in Tavion’s hand at the beginning of the clip. Another photo shows the gun in the grass near the patrol vehicle and Tavion several feet away with his hands raised.
The Official
The city identified Westlake as the officer on Monday. He has been placed on paid administrative leave in accordance with department procedures.
Westlake, 33, hired in June 2014, graduated from the Kent State University Police Academy.
“The officer’s file includes a number of disciplinary actions and use of force incidents, one of which was considered unreasonable,” Akron Mayor Shammas Malik’s office said in a statement.
Files show that in May 2021, he was suspended for 71 days because of several incidents that year, including using profanity, an anti-gay slur, and brandishing a firearm at his girlfriend while intoxicated, as well as while off-duty. “extremely intoxicated.” ” incidents in Ohio and Florida in which he exhibited behaviors and actions “that discredited the police department.”
Westlake appealed the chief’s recommendation to suspend him, and the mayor at the time, Daniel Horrigan, terminated his employment on July 20, 2021, his personnel and disciplinary records show.
The next day, Westlake’s firing was rescinded and he was reinstated after he, the city of Akron and the local police union agreed to the suspension, according to disciplinary records.
He was also suspended for two days without pay in June 2022 for a use of force incident on Nov. 23, 2021, less than a month after returning to work following his last suspension, according to records. In this case, he crashed into a suspect’s car during a chase and did not report the incident in a timely manner.
In a statement Tuesday, the Westlake union called out anyone who might criticize it for the April 1 shooting of a “Monday morning quarterback.”
“The officer involved acted within policy and procedure and in accordance with his training,” said the Fraternal Order of Police, Akron Lodge 7, in Facebook’s statement. “Immediately after being confronted with the split-second decision to use deadly force, he and other officers began providing medical treatment to the suspect.”
Westlake could not immediately be reached for comment.
‘Black boys deserve to grow up and live’
“The Koonce and Williams family are heartbroken and seek justice and accountability for the lack of humanity that was shown to Tavion,” Okolo said in a statement Monday.
“Tavion now finds himself in the lineage of black youth being profiled and shot by the Akron Police Department with absolutely no justification or regard for human life,” he said.
Okolo emphasized that Tavion obeyed all the officer’s commands but was still shot.
“How could a 15-year-old be shot just a block from his grandmother’s house while he had his hands up doing exactly what the police officer asked him to do? … Black boys deserve to grow up and live without the threat of coming home and getting shot by a police officer,” he said.
Tavion, his family and lawyer held a press conference on Friday. Tavion did not speak, but was present, with a cast visible on his wrist.
“This experience was very, very traumatizing for me, my son, my family and also for my other children,” Angel Williams, his mother, told reporters. “The Akron Police Department needs to be held accountable for the excessive force you use on our black babies. Everything is not okay and we are tired of seeing our babies die at the hands of the people they swore to protect and serve.”
James Koonce, Tavion’s father, said his son has lost sleep, is anxious and wakes up several times during the night after the ordeal.
“He has a scar that will now be a consistent reminder of the trauma he faced that day. I hope justice is served,” he said.
“Although I am grateful to God that he was only shot in the wrist, I can only help but wonder what could have happened and I am grateful to God that my son is still alive. This has caused something that will forever affect his life,” the father added.
The Ohio Department of Criminal Investigation is conducting an independent investigation into the use of force incident, and its findings will be turned over to the state attorney general’s office for review; will then present the information to the Summit County grand jury, Akron police and the mayor’s office said.
Upon completion of the BCI investigation, the Akron Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards and Accountability will conduct a separate internal investigation, which will be shared with the chief and the independent police auditor for review.
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