CLEVELAND, Ohio — An Akron man was shot less than 40 seconds after a police officer asked him to get out of a rented truck, body camera footage shows.
Video released Saturday shows 54-year-old Michael Donnell Jones dying on Aug. 17. State officials are investigating the shooting, and Akron police are expected to conduct an internal investigation into the case.
“My deepest sympathies go out to his family in this loss,” Akron Mayor Shammas Malik said in a statement released with the footage. “While it is never easy to witness someone’s final moments, I believe it is important that our community has a clear picture of what we know so far.”
At 1:04 a.m. on Aug. 17, Akron police officers saw what they believed to be a stolen U-Haul in the parking lot of a gas station in the 2200 block of East Avenue, police said.
According to the video, an officer walked to the driver’s door, knocked on it and told Jones to get out because he was under arrest.
“For what?” Jones said as a second officer approached the vehicle.
The second officer forced his way into the car and attempted to handcuff Jones, the video shows. The U-Haul began to accelerate and veered right, turning onto the street in front of the gas station as officers wrestled with Jones for the steering wheel, the body camera and surveillance videos show.
“You should have been fucking shot,” an officer yelled at Jones as they struggled for control of the steering wheel.
Immediately afterward, an officer fired two shots, according to the video. Jones let go of the steering wheel and the U-Haul came to a stop. According to the footage, the two officers pulled Jones out of the truck and handcuffed him.
The officer who fired his weapon then retrieved a first aid kit from the police car. The other officer patted Jones down and found a silver handgun that he said was loaded, according to body camera footage. Jones was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police have not yet identified any of the officers involved. The officer who fired his weapon has been on the force for nearly three years. He has been placed on leave in accordance with department regulations, police said.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation will present the completed investigation to prosecutors, who will present the case to a grand jury, which will decide whether to file charges.
