The lawyers for the family of a 15-year-old fatally shot by an Akron police officer on Thanksgiving are calling for city officials to be fully transparent and hold the officer accountable.
Meanwhile, Akron Mayor Shammas Malik said the city will not release the name of the police officer that fatally shot him.
"We have an obligation to make sure that folks are safe from harm," Malik said during a Friday morning news conference.
The law firm representing the family of Jazmir Tucker also gave remarks at a separate press conference.
"The family seeks full transparency and cooperation from the city, in response to the family's questions and requests for information," said Robert Gresham, one of the attorneys representing the family. "What we don't want to happen in this case is what happens in these cases traditionally, is the city standing in the way of getting the answers to those questions via public records requests."
He also asked for the mayor to "lead this city" in getting answers for the family.
Malik has questions of his own following the release of bodycam footage of the incident Thursday night, which shows officers running toward Jazmir Tucker with weapons drawn.
Malik expanded on his questions during the press conference, including the concern that the officer who fired was carrying a rifle, which can be seen firing but without any sound. Officers did not render aid for several minutes before approaching Tucker to handcuff him. Officers then unzipped his coat pocket and found a gun.
The department has said that the officer is a five-year veteran of the force and has been placed on paid administrative leave.
That officer and his partner were working on a previous call in their parked cruiser when they heard gunshots and got out of the car to investigate, according to the initial release. However, the officers did not turn on their bodycams when they exited the car, Malik said.
"My initial questions are why the cameras were not activated by the officers and whether this violated the body worn camera policy," he said. "This will be reviewed in our internal investigation."
The cameras were only turned on by the presence of a nearby cruiser with activated lights. Bodycam footage does not show the altercation between officers and Tucker before shots were fired, and there is no audio until after that fact.
"Given that, why did the officer decide to use his weapon?," Malik asked. "That question will be the focus of the state's Bureau of Criminal Investigation, BCI, investigation."
Malik also questioned why it took so long for officers to render aid to Tucker, he said.
"This issue will be part of our internal investigation," he said, "but in the meantime, Chief [Brian] Harding has instructed APD leadership to construct role call trainings immediately with all of our patrol officers regarding on scene security and rendering aid."
The rifle used by the officer who shot Tucker was not issued by the department but had to meet requirements and training standards, Harding said.
"We have policies that generally cover our response, not specifically around when those weapons will be used," he said, "but I think it's important to note that in the last several years and in law enforcement in general, officers are using rifles now in response to what we're seeing on the street."
It is not yet known how many times Tucker was shot or where, Harding said.
Two shell casings were found near the scene, and the department hopes to know if they were discharged by the gun found on Tucker by next week, Harding said.
The family's legal team declined to answer questions about the gun recovered from Tucker.
While the family and lawyers said they appreciate the mayor's questions, they believe the shooting could have been prevented if proper action toward reform and accountability had been taken after previous police shootings, attorney Stanley Jackson said.
"They knew that they had an issue with their police department. They knew they needed training," Jackson said. "Because they didn't do so, Jaz lost his life."
Jackson added that Tucker's death "is on the mayor's hands."
"You know that your police department is in shambles," Jackson said. "You know that the [U.S. Department of Justice] should be investigating your police department."
Tucker remembered as "kind, loving kid"
Tucker's mother, Ashley Green, and his great-aunt Connie Sutton both shared stories of Tucker, referring to him by his nickname "Jaz."
It was hard seeing Tucker's twin brother, Amir, shoveling snow by himself this morning, Green said.
"Amir and Jazmir, they would be the first ones up making sure that we could get outside to our cars. They would clean them, start them up, everything for us," Green said. "We didn't even have to ask, it was like they already, he already knew, you know, what we needed. He was there for us, just a kind, loving, funny kid."
Tucker and his family spent Thanksgiving at Green's grandmother's house, she added. Hours later, he was shot and killed by police while walking to his older brother's house, she said.
"Jazmir was a great kid. He was still a baby," she said."
Green added that Tucker loved to play basketball and work on cars. He'd hoped to go to college and play basketball, she said.
Freedom BLOC, a nonprofit focused on building power in the Black community, released a list of demands Friday morning in light of the release of the bodycam footage. The demands include immediately terminating the officer who killed Tucker; a transparent, community led investigation, changing policy on officers being able to use non department issued weapons and a pattern of practice investigation into the department by the Department of Justice.
“Safety is not a budget line item. It is not achieved through carceral systems or the policing of Black bodies," Executive Director Ray Greene Jr. said in a statement. "Safety must come from within our communities, through relationships, trust, and care."
Both Greene and Judi Hill, president of the Akron chapter of the NAACP, are calling for the U.S. Department of Justice to open an investigation into the police department’s patterns and practices.
“It’s clear that there’s something either missing in Akron in the training, and or, in the culture," Hill told Ideastream Public Media. "This 'shoot first and talk later?' We can’t do that.”
She also referenced the city’s recent settlements in the Jayland Walker case and a lawsuit involving police misconduct toward protesters.
“We’ve had two rulings in Akron where the city has to pay out financially, and they also said they’re going to look at their procedures. But, these incidents keep happening," Hill said.
The bodycam footage shows a clear need for better training and less aggression from the police, Hill added.
