Akron police release bodycam video of Oasis shooter incident
Akron police have released body-worn camera videos that show an officer shooting a woman suspected of fatally shooting a woman inside the Oasis Surf and Turf bar on July 29 in the city's North Hill neighborhood.
The footage released Thursday from four body-worn cameras shows different perspectives of the incident, including one showing the officer firing at the woman as she raised her right hand and stepped toward the officer. A still clip from the video shows a gun on the ground next to the woman.
The real-time video is then replayed in slow motion, showing the woman, who police have not identified, raising her right arm toward the officer. The woman survived the shooting. She remained hospitalized Friday in stable condition with injuries that are not considered life-threatening. Charges are pending, Akron police said Friday.
The released footage does not show the woman on the ground after being shot or what happened afterward. The police narrative says officers immediately began first aid and applied a tourniquet until emergency medical services arrived.
The videos show officers using flashlights, with guns out, as they ran through backyards searching for the woman, then running on a sidewalk when she is spotted in the parking lot of the former Liberty Harley-Davidson dealership. Police cruiser sirens are sounding in the background.
What Akron police videos show
Akron released the videos as required under a new city ordinance requiring the public release of body camera footage of officers using deadly force within seven days. This is the fourth video to be released since December and first since the June 27 fatal shooting of Jayland Walker by eight Akron officers.
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The first of four video clips shows the officer who fired the shots yelling "Show me your hands!" to the woman while she stood in a parking lot on Cuyahoga Falls avenue.
"I'm on the sidewalk! There she is!" the shooting officer yells. "Show me your hands! Show me your hands!"
The woman steps forward and raises her right arm. Then the officer fires four times.
The videos show other officers, including a cruiser, arrived at the parking lot just as the officer fired at the woman.
Other video footage shows officers running through backyards.
One officer yells, "Show me your hands!"
Then he says, "Keep looking! Keep looking! You got her?"
Another officer is heard saying, "No!"
"Keep checking! Go!" the officer says, then runs onto the sidewalk toward the parking lot before the woman was shot.
What happened at the Oasis Bar?
A little before 3 a.m. July 29, police responded to a report of a shooting at the bar at 830 N. Howard St. Police said a witness at the bar followed the shooting suspect and flagged down police officers, who said they saw the woman had a handgun and then ran after her when she fled north toward Cuyahoga Falls Avenue.
About the same time, police were told the woman shot inside the bar, Chyna Shepard, 21, of Akron, was being taken to a hospital. She died July 30.
Police said officers tracked the shooting suspect to the former Liberty Harley-Davidson dealership parking at North Howard and Cuyahoga Falls Avenue.
Suspect shot following chase: Akron police shoot suspect following shooting at troubled Oasis bar in North Hill
The shooter, who police have not yet identified, was taken to Summa Akron City Hospital.
The officer involved in the shooting, a two-year veteran of the police department, was placed on administrative leave. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is handling the investigation of the officer-involved shooting. A separate investigation will be conducted by the police department’s Office of Professional Standards and Accountability.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron police release bodycam video footage of Oasis shooter incident
