Akron pays $4.75M after officer shot 15-year-old in the back; police union fights firing
On Thanksgiving night 2024, Akron police officer Davon Fields shot 15-year-old Jazmir Tucker in the back with a rifle; police said Tucker carried a loaded gun. Fields's body camera did not activate until after the shooting, and the city says he waited more than seven minutes to approach the dying teen. In October 2025 a grand jury declined to indict him. On Aug. 14, 2026, Mayor Shammas Malik fired Fields for policy violations, including failing to give proper medical aid and breaking body-camera rules, but not for the shooting itself, and the city agreed to pay Tucker's family $4.75 million, pending probate court approval. The city admits no wrongdoing. Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 called the firing politics and vowed to fight it. A separate criminal probe of Fields is ongoing, the city says.
The family is happy that Fields is being terminated – they've been asking for that from the beginning.
The loss of life and the circumstances in this case were absolutely tragic, with enormous human and financial costs.
The city fired Fields for policy violations, not the shooting, and admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement.
Not yet contacted for this story.
Union president Brian Lucey called the firing unjust and 'politics at its worst,' and vowed to fight it.
No outcome recorded yet.