An Akron police officer shot a 15-year-old boy who was holding a fake gun within seconds of stopping him, newly released body-camera footage shows.
Ryan Vayda Westlake, who has been with the Akron police nearly a decade, shot Tavion Koonce-Williams in the wrist on April 1, leaving the Black teenager with injuries that were not considered life-threatening. The officer is on paid leave as state officials investigate the incident.
The footage released Monday shows Tavion repeatedly screaming, “It’s fake!” after being shot. His voice cracks and he begins to cry while complying with Westlake’s commands to get on the ground.
Investigators confirmed that the gun was fake, Akron police Capt. Michael Miller told The Washington Post on Wednesday. He added that the department wouldn’t be commenting further because of the open investigation.
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Akron Mayor Shammas Malik, just shy of his 100th day in office, released the footage and Westlake’s personnel file, promising transparency as the investigation continues. The file contains several disciplinary actions along with use-of-force incidents, including one deemed unreasonable.
Imokhai Okolo, an attorney for the teen, vowed to seek justice. He said in a statement that Tavion is a high school student “now grappling with the trauma of being profiled and having his life flash before his eyes after being shot.” The director of an Akron-based Black advocacy group has called for Westlake’s firing.
The local Fraternal Order of Police chapter released a statement Tuesday saying Westlake “acted within policy and procedure and according to his training.”
The personnel file shows that the police union previously represented Westlake and won him back his job after he pulled his firearm on his girlfriend in January 2021.
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“While some may watch the video and play ‘Monday morning quarterback,’ that is not a luxury officers have when faced with these complex situations,” the union’s statement said.
The union added it knows people may have “concerns” about Westlake’s personnel file, but that “does not change the fact that this use of force on April 1, 2024 was objectively reasonable.”
The incident began at 7:04 p.m. on April 1, when a woman walking her dog called 911 to report seeing a man pointing a gun at houses in east Akron. She said he was holding the gun sideways as though he were going to shoot into homes, according to audio of the 911 call released by the city.
In the released footage, Westlake finds Tavion at 7:11 p.m. and parks alongside the teen. Westlake asks to see Tavion’s hands.
“Where you coming from? Can I see your hands real quick?” Westlake asks before drawing his gun while getting out of his car and firing one round 3½ seconds later.
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Responding officers put a tourniquet on Tavion’s arm.
“I’m a good kid. I get A’s in school. I play football. I just wanted to be safe,” Tavion says. An officer responds, “You’ll be all right, man.”
The publicly released footage ends shortly after.
In his statement, the teen’s attorney said Tavion was shot on the inside of his wrist, suggesting his hands were up when he was shot.
“How is it that a 15-year-old child could be gunned down just a block from his grandmother’s home while his hands were up doing exactly what the police officer asked him to do?” Okolo asked. “What could possibly justify the inhumane treatment of a child?”
Westlake’s 126-page personnel file shows he has had some previous violations of department policy. Westlake, 33, was hired by the police department in September 2014.
During his 90-day review, he was given a “satisfactory” score in the “dealing with others” section and scored the same during his 270-day review. His score was upped to “very good” after 11 months on the force and “outstanding” by April 2016, when evaluators wrote that he “works well” with the public. In October 2016, an evaluator wrote that he was “professional and courteous while interacting with the public.”
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But a May 13, 2021, report listed two incidents that got Westlake in trouble: He used foul language and a hom*ophobic slur during a March 2021 interaction, and there was an incident in January 2021 in which Westlake admitted he was drunk and pointed his firearm toward his girlfriend.
The police chief recommended that Westlake be suspended. Westlake and his union representation appealed the recommendation, but documents show the mayor fired Westlake on July 20, 2021.
The next day, the city agreed to a deal with the union that Westlake be reinstated and serve a 71-day suspension without pay for his violations, according to the agreement document in his personnel file.
His review on Jan. 4 indicated that his judgment and decision-making skills were “below expectations” but that he was well-liked within the department and was a proactive officer.
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The Rev. Ray Greene Jr., executive director of local Black advocacy group the Freedom BLOC, called for Westlake’s firing Tuesday.
“We watch the police de-escalate, disarm, and not kill White people, particularly White children, every day. I know, hang with, and struggle with White folks that police hate — yet those White folks don’t fear for their lives like I do and most all Black people globally when it comes to interactions with the police,” he wrote on social media.
For some in Ohio, news of Tavion’s shooting brought to mind the 2014 killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice — who was shot by Cleveland police while holding a pellet gun. Rice’s mother, Samaria Rice, told the Plain Dealer in Cleveland on Tuesday that Westlake didn’t have to shoot Tavion: “This is ridiculous. We have to fight back against the policies and procedures of policing. Thank God he didn’t kill the young man.”
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In Tavion’s case, the Akron mayor wrote, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation will investigate and give its findings to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office to review before presenting the information to a Summit County grand jury for evaluation. The Akron Police Department will then conduct an independent investigation that will be shared with the police chief and the city’s independent police auditor.
“[The] officer-involved shooting of a 15-year-old Akron resident is a tragic situation, and I’m grateful the young man was not more seriously injured and that the officer was not injured,” the mayor said.
Okolo maintained that Tavion did nothing wrong, noting Ohio is an open-carry state.
“Black boys deserve to grow up and live without the threat of walking home and being shot by the police. Black boys deserve to be treated with dignity and humanity,” Okolo wrote.
