AKRON, Ohio >> An Ohio grand jury declined to indict eight police officers who fired dozens of rounds in the shooting death last year of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man, the state’s attorney general announced Monday, saying the officers were under threat because Walker had fired a gunshot at them during a car and foot chase.

Walker’s death last June sparked protests in Akron after police released body camera footage showing him dying in a hail of gunfire. Police said he had refused to stop when they tried to pull him over for minor equipment and traffic violations, though they haven’t specified further. Police say Walker fired a shot from his car 40 seconds into the pursuit.

Walker’s death received widespread attention from activists, including from the family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The NAACP and an attorney for Walker’s family called on the Justice Department to open a federal civil rights investigation.

– The Associated Press