New documents, video shed light on Daytona Beach police officer shooting investigation

Othal Wallace, 29, apprehended near Atlanta following June shooting

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – New documents, body camera footage and images piece together the hours immediately following the shooting of Daytona Beach Police Officer Jayson Raynor.

Raynor, 26, was shot as he approached a car on Kingston Ave. on June 23.

Body camera footage released that night by DBPD shows a man police later identified as Othal Wallace as the gunman.

On Tuesday, the state attorney’s office released more body camera footage from other officers that shows the response within minutes of the shooting.

In the videos, many of the residents said they heard a gunshot, but they did not know who pulled the trigger.

One woman who said she was Wallace’s longtime girlfriend is seen on police body camera identifying Wallace in a police photo.

“I heard the people yelling,” she told an investigator. “I thought it was just a fight, so I got up just to be nosy and be me. When I got to the living room window, I noticed it was a little bit more than that, so I opened the door, and I heard, ‘we need towels, we need towels. He’s on the ground.’”

While police dogs searched for signs of Wallace outside the apartment, documents showed police investigators used technology to track Wallace down.

According to data provided by a cell phone company, investigators appeared to be tracking Wallace in real-time.

Just an hour after the shooting, he was tracked by his cellphone in Deltona.

At 4 a.m., his cellphone “pinged” in Gainesville, where his father owned property and where his car was found in a Home Depot parking lot.

Investigators’ records showed pings tracking Wallace as he made his way up Interstate 75 in Georgia, prompting new alerts to local law enforcement.

At 9 a.m. the day after the shooting, Wallace was pinged in the Atlanta area, where he would be arrested two days later.

In Daytona Beach, investigators executed a search warrant at his apartment where they uncovered guns, ammunition, and a ballistics vest with the New Black Panthers insignia on the front.

Prosecutors also released a video call Wallace took from a supporter in jail, where he said he wanted people to hear what he had to say.

“I’m a good guy that got caught up in a situation where I could not – absolutely – it was either death or this,” he’s heard saying.

Absent from the release was any body camera footage that showed the moments leading up to Raynor’s initial contact with Wallace.

According to Daytona Beach police, Raynor is still listed in critical condition.

Wallace is charged with attempted first-degree murder of a police officer.

His next court date is in October.


About the Author

Erik Sandoval joined the News 6 team as a reporter in May 2013 and became an Investigator in 2020. During his time at News 6, Erik has covered several major stories, including the 2016 Presidential campaign. He was also one of the first reporters live on the air at the Pulse Nightclub shooting.

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