Akron’s Police Chief James Nice resigned unexpectedly this afternoon at the request of Mayor Dan Horrigan.
The Horrigan administration is offering no comment about the resignation of Nice until a press conference tomorrow afternoon. Nice, who is an Akron native and former FBI agent, had been chief since 2011.
His resignation comes two days after a 17-year-old boy, who was handcuffed, reportedly shot himself in the head and died in the back of the police cruiser. It’s unclear how Xavier McMullen, got the gun in the cruiser and whether the shooting was suicide or accidental.
Maj. Kenneth Ball is now provisional chief. The Beacon Journal is reporting that the department captains met this afternoon.
Just two weeks ago, Nice and the department were gathering positive national headlines after giving a new bicycle to an 89-year-old veteran whose old bike was stolen. He said then he was proud of the relationship between the department and the Akron community.
