Police Deputy Fatally Shooting Black Man While Off-Duty Sparks Protests

A North Carolina police station is facing protests after an off-duty sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a Black man who he claimed jumped onto his truck.

Per the Associated Press, an investigation into the death of 37-year-old Jason Walker on Saturday, Jan. 8 has been launched after he was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer. While the deputy wasn’t initially named by police, ABC 11 reports that he has since been identified as Jeffrey Hash and an FBI investigation is underway.

According to the preliminary investigation from police, Walker “ran into traffic and jumped on a moving vehicle.” The Cumberland County deputy said he then shot Walker and called the police. Walker was pronounced dead at the scene, but one witness said that Hash ran over the man and then shot him. In a quote provided to the News & Observer, Ricks said she saw Walker attempt to cross the street when he was hit by the officer’s truck and then shot. “I did not see anyone in distress,” said Ricks, who applied pressure to Walker’s wounds at the scene. “The man was just walking home.”

Despite the deputy’s claims that the man jumped onto his truck, police said there was no bullet hole through the windshield. Additionally, ABC 11 reported that police chief Gina Hawkins said that Hash’s on-board “black box” computer did not register an impact to the truck. Investigators with the police department noted that a windshield wiper was seemingly taken off of the truck.

Per the Fayetteville Observer, demonstrators gathered outside of the Fayetteville Police on Sunday in response to the death of Walker. Signs read, “enough is enough,” “no justice, no peace,” and “4 shots in the back” among other statements. At one point, the crowd reached as much as 100 people.

"I wish we weren't here right now," said Shaun McMilan of the Fayetteville Police Accountability Community Taskforce. "We should have a government, a police force responsible enough to make an arrest when they're supposed to. We should have a citizenry that respects life enough to not shoot an unarmed pedestrian."

With the FBI joining in on the investigation, that makes a total of four agencies looking into the incident. "He wasn't the kind of guy you know to stir up violence," a relative of Walker told ABC 11. "He was a very humble soul. Everyone that knows him, knows him to have a gentle heart--soft spoken, well-mannered, hardworking individual. He had an incredible sense of humor."