AKRON, Ohio — The president of the Akron Chapter of the NAACP is raising some questions and concerns two days after police body camera videos were released in connection with the death of 54-year-old Michael Jones.
Judi Hill, who watched two body camera videos and a surveillance video from a gas station, said she was disturbed that an officer told Jones he was under arrest but didn't explain why.
"On the front end, we could have de-escalated the situation by acknowledging who he was as an officer and why you were stopping this individual at 1 a.m.," Hill said.
According to police, an officer approached a U-Haul truck around 1:04 a.m. on Aug. 17 in the parking lot of the Duke and Duchess gas station on East Avenue.
The vehicle has been reported stolen. In the videos, an officer — who has not been named — approaches the vehicle and orders Jones multiple times to get out of it.
Jones is heard asking, "What's going on?" and "What for?"
A second officer approaches, and the videos show both of the officers get into the U-haul partially on the driver's side.
Moments later, there was a struggle that lasted about 15 seconds inside the vehicle.
The gas station surveillance video shows the truck moving forward with the officers still partly in the truck.
According to APD, two shots were fired. Jones was struck. The officers removed him from the vehicle, and he was handcuffed.
The officers administered first aid, but Jones died at the scene.
"I don't believe this was a situation that we needed to lose a life," Hill said.
The body camera footage shows the officers found a gun "on or near" Jones after he was shot and removed from the vehicle. It's not clear if either officer saw the gun in the U-Haul during the struggle.
Hill questioned whether it was necessary for the officers to get into the U-Haul.
"Why they were in the vehicle, I don't know. I don't know if it was necessary. It's scary, and again, I'm not in their head. I can just tell you this— there are things we could do differently, and training, training and good training, often about how you treat human beings, is so critical," Hill said.
National law enforcement procedures expert Tim Dimoff said, in general, officers getting into a vehicle would not be the proper procedure, but after watching the videos, he believes the officers were trying to remove Jones from the U-Haul when things went wrong quickly.
"All of a sudden, he takes off and they're stuck hanging in that truck," Dimoff said. "That was very dangerous for the officers."
Dimoff said in those moments, the officer who fired may have felt his life or the lives of others were in danger.
"We need to clearly verify the fact that the driver resisted and did, in fact, escalate the use of his force to a level of deadly or serious physical harm to the officers," Dimoff said.
Ohio BCI is investigating the deadly shooting. Ultimately, the case will be presented to a Summit County grand jury.
The officer who fired his gun has been on the force for two years. He was placed on paid administrative leave.
Following the shooting, Brian Lucey, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police Akron Lodge #7, said this is a difficult situation for everyone involved.
"We are confident when all of the facts are released, our officer's actions will be deemed justified," Lucey said.
RELATED: Body camera footage shows the Akron police shooting of Michael Donnell Jones
