AKRON, Ohio — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is asking the public for patience as the state's Criminal Bureau of Investigation handles the investigation into Jayland Walker's death.
Following a short pursuit and foot chase, Walker was shot dozens of times by officers with the Akron Police Department on June 27. He was pronounced dead minutes later.
Yost posted to YouTube on Wednesday saying Walker's family, community and every Ohioan deserve to know why Walker was shot.
"The investigation will be objective, professional and independent. There are many questions about what happened. Was the force necessary? What led police to shoot a young man so many times? what could have been done to prevent this from occurring in the first place?" Yost said.
Police said they tried to pull Walker over for an unspecified traffic violation. In the early parts of the pursuit, Akron police said Walker fired a shot at cruisers.
Police released body camera footage of the incident over the weekend, showing officers firing multiple gunshots at Walker after he stopped and quickly turned around toward them. According to police, Walker's motion caused the officers to fear for their lives.
Walker was unarmed at the time of the foot pursuit, but a loaded gun was found in his vehicle.
Yost said the video is important evidence, but it's only one part of the entire investigation.
"A few seconds of video does not provide us with the full picture, the full context of an incident that unfolded over many minutes, in many different locations. We have to let our investigators find the whole picture and seek out the truth, the whole truth, because that's what we all want is the truth," Yost said.
Typical officer-involved shooting investigations take about 400 hours to complete. After, the investigation will be handed over to the Summit County prosecutor's office and presented to a grand jury.
This is a process that will likely take months, but Yost is asking for the public's patience while BCI works the investigation.
"This case will be fully available to the public on the web as soon as we are legally allowed to share it. We understand that we have an obligation to everyone involved in this tragedy to determine exactly what happened and why. We owe that to Mr. Walker and his family and friends," Yost said.
The eight Akron officers directly involved with Walker's shooting are on paid administrative leave, which is standard policy in cases like this.
You can watch Yost's full statement below.