CLEVELAND — One week after a deadly shooting, Cleveland police released surveillance video that shows the moment a 22-year-old off-duty Cleveland police officer shot and killed 26-year-old Akili Hammond.
Multiple law enforcement sources confirmed the officer is 22-year-old Myron Priest, who was hired by Cleveland police in April 2025. He was placed on unpaid administrative leave on May 22.
The Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department is investigating the shooting. No arrests have been made.
Surveillance video
The video starts at 7:12 p.m. It shows a silver car pulling into the parking lot of Park Place Apartments off East Boulevard on Cleveland's East Side and parking next to a black SUV.
Seconds later, a man believed to be Priest gets out of the silver car with what looks like a gun in his hand and walks over to the SUV.
At 7:14 p.m., Priest returns to the silver car and gets a gun, which appears to be a rifle.
Seconds later, a red car drives by. Priest looks at the vehicle, then the video goes black.
The video picks back up almost 40 minutes later.
The red car drives by again. This time, it stops. Hammond gets out.
He and Priest appear to exchange words. Hammond walks away.
Then, at 7:51 p.m., Hammond returns. He begins walking toward Priest. He has what looks like a gun in his hand, but it appears the weapon remained at his side and was not pointed at Priest.
Approximately five seconds after Hammond returns, Priest appears to shoot him. The video shows Hammond collapse face-first on the ground. Smoke is visible at the barrel of Priest's gun.
The scene then becomes chaotic. Priest appears to keep shooting, which is what Stan Martin, a witness, previously told News 5, investigators.
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Multiple people also appear to fire their guns. In the video, police highlight that at least three other people at the scene were armed.
After the shooting ends, Priest starts gathering items from the crime scene, just feet from where Hammond is lying on the ground.
Hammond hands the items to another man at the scene. Then, a third man picks up Hammond's gun, which was later turned over to police.
Priest does not try to assist Hammond - even though, as a Cleveland Police officer, he is trained to render first aid.
Instead, Priest walked around the parking lot while several bystanders tried to save Hammond's life.
Hammond was pronounced dead at 9:17 p.m. that night after being rushed to the hospital.
