Video of Jason Walker Shooting by Off-Duty Cop to Be Released Next Week: Police Chief
A North Carolina police chief has asked for the release of a body image taken after Jason Walker was shot by a police officer who did not work over the weekend. The judge granted the motion on Thursday, and the video is expected to be released later next week.
Fayetteville, North Carolina Police Chief Gina Hawkins filed a petition Tuesday to release the video to the public. Supreme Court Judge Jim Ammons approved the request, saying it was "seeking justice," the Associated Press reported.
Walker, 37, was shot and killed near his home Saturday by a police officer who did not work for the Cumberland County Sheriff's office. Hawkins said he did not know how many times Walker had been shot, according to Charlotte Observer.
Fayetteville police said an initial investigation found Walker "ran into the road and jumped into a moving car." Deputy Lieutenant Jeffery Hash then shot Walker around 2:15 pm and called 911. The News & Observer reports.
Charlotte Observer he also said that at least two people who said they were at the scene on Saturday did not agree with the police 'findings.
On social media, the two men shared a different approach to how it happened. He said Hash hit Walker as he was walking across the street and then shot him. They posted an online video of the incident following the incident.
The video shows a man believed to be Hash standing next to a red car talking on the phone while Walker lies on the floor behind the car.
About a minute into the video, the police arrive and the driver tells them, "I was getting off here. They were running across the street so I stopped. They jumped on my car, and I started screaming." Charlotte Observer reports.
In a recently released 911 photo, Hash told the sender that he had shot the man who jumped into his car, smashing the front cover, while his wife and daughter were in the car, according to The News & Observer.
At a press conference Sunday, Hawkins said investigators found "the front cover was torn, and a metal part was used to break the fire glass in several places." He said he was aware of the video on social media and watched, Charlotte Observer he added.
Investigators looked at the car's black box computer which contained a lot of information such as the speed of the car and its impact.
"That computer has never recorded anything, and anyone or anything," Hawkins said Charlotte Observer. "Currently we have no witnesses who say someone was hit by the car."
The Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West and Hawkins said Sunday their offices are not investigating Walker's death. The State Bureau of Investigation has announced that it will replace the case, The Fayetteville Observer reports.
The sheriff's office said Hash had been placed on leave pending an internal investigation, The News & Observer reports.
The judge has granted North Carolina's police chief's request to release a video camera of the body shortly after he was assassinated by Jason Walker last Saturday by a deputy sheriff in office. Above, Pandora Harrington, on the right, weeping as she carries a placard with a picture of Jason Walker on display at the Fayetteville Police Department on January 9 in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Andrew Craft / The Fayetteville Observer / AP Photo