Cop shoots 15-year-old as he throws toy gun on ground, raises hands, OH suit says
.png "Body camera footage shows 15-year-old Tavion Koonce-Williams shot by police as he throws a toy gun on the ground.")
A former Akron, Ohio, police officer is being sued after a parent says he shot their 15-year-old son who was holding a toy gun.
The lawsuit was filed April 1 in Summit County against Ryan Westlake.
Attorney information for Westlake was not immediately available.
McClatchy News reached out to the Akron Police Department April 3 for comment but did not immediately hear back.
According to the civil complaint, on April 1, 2024, 15-year-old Tavion Koonce-Williams was walking on a sidewalk carrying a toy gun.
A bystander saw this and called 911, reporting a man wearing all black was pointing a gun at people’s houses, the lawsuit said. Westlake was then dispatched to respond.
Westlake pulled up behind Koonce-Williams, opened his door and asked the teen “where are you coming from? Can I see your hands real quick?” the lawsuit said.
“When Tavion Koonce-Williams realized (Westlake) was stopping him, he took the toy gun, threw it to the ground, and put his hands up,” the lawsuit said.
Body camera footage obtained by WKYC shows the teen drop the toy gun and repeatedly yell, “it’s fake, it’s fake.”
However, in the midst of Koonce-Williams dropping the toy gun and raising his hands, Westlake fired his gun and shot the teen, the lawsuit said.
“At no point in time was Tavion Koonce-Williams a threat to (Westlake),” the lawsuit said.
Koonce-Williams was shot in the hand, WKYC reported.
The lawsuit said Westlake had a “history of violating Akron Police Department policies/procedures and using excessive/unjustified force on individuals.”
Westlake was fired from the department in 2021, then reinstated the same year, the lawsuit said. He was fired again about a month after Koonce-Williams was shot, in connection with “misconduct they failed to timely investigate prior to this incident,” according to the complaint.
This story was originally published April 3, 2025 at 1:54 PM with the headline "Cop shoots 15-year-old as he throws toy gun on ground, raises hands, OH suit says."
