Residents deliver petition, urge Akron council to fire officer in shooting of 15-year-old

A group of residents delivered a petition with more than 1,400 signatures at the Akron City Council public comment period and urged the city to fire Officer Davon Fields over a police shooting that left 15‑year‑old Jasmine Tucker wounded.

The petition was presented by a speaker identified as Autumn and said, “Fire Davon Field. Justice for Jasmine, justice for us all.” William Reynolds, who introduced himself to the council and said it has been “327 days since a young citizen, Jasmine Tucker, was shot in the back by Davon Fields,” urged elected officials to act where a grand jury did not. “We know that it took 8 minutes 37 seconds for anyone to begin giving aid to Jasmere,” Reynolds said.

The petition and public comments demanded termination of Fields, a transparent internal investigation with community oversight, mandatory de‑escalation training, trauma‑informed responses for youth encounters and a ban on on‑duty personal assault rifles. “Mandate de‑escalation training. Ban personal assault rifles on duty. Equip every officer with trauma informed response for youth encounters,” Autumn said while presenting the petition.

Acacia Reynolds, who identified herself during public comment, argued for investments in emotional and mental‑health services and prevention rather than additional police spending. “Teaching people how to regulate their emotions is crime prevention. It's addiction prevention. It's suicide prevention. It's generational healing,” she said.

Speakers accused the department and city leadership of permitting repeated policy violations and of failing to provide timely aid at the scene. Commenters also raised details included in publicly circulated materials: the assertion that the youth was shot in the back, that Fields used a scoped rifle and that aid was delayed more than eight minutes. Those are claims made by speakers during public comment at the council meeting; the meeting record did not include a presentation of new investigative findings by the city during the session.

Council did not take formal action on the petition during the meeting. The public comment period closed after several residents spoke. No motions, votes, or committee referrals related to the petition or a personnel decision regarding Officer Fields were recorded in the meeting minutes presented at the session.

The petitioners asked the council and mayor to pursue immediate personnel action and to create civilian oversight for internal investigations. They also sought commitments for mental‑health response teams for nonviolent calls.