Cleveland – White Officer Won’t Face Charges In Killing Of 12-year-old Cleveland Boy

    4

    FILE - Samaria Rice, the mother of Tamir Rice, the 12-year old boy who was fatally shot by police last month while carrying what turned out to be a replica toy gun, looks on as Benjamin Crump (R) speaks to the media during a news conference at the Olivet Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio December 8, 2014.REUTERSCleveland – A grand jury declined to indict a white rookie police officer in the killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, a black youngster who was shot to death while carrying what turned out to be a pellet gun, a prosecutor said Monday.

    Join our WhatsApp group

    Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email


    Cuyahoga County prosecutor Tim McGinty said it was “indisputable” that the boy was drawing the weapon from his waistband when he was gunned down — either to hand it over to police or to show them that it wasn’t a real firearm. But McGinty said there was no way for the officers on the scene to know that.

    He called it “a perfect storm of human error” but said no crime was committed.

    Tamir was gunned down by patrolman Timothy Loehmann within two seconds of his police cruiser skidding to a stop near the boy outside a city recreation center in November 2014. Loehmann and his training partner, Frank Garmback, had responded to a 911 call about a man waving a gun.

    Tamir was carrying a borrowed airsoft gun that looked like a real gun but shot nonlethal plastic pellets. It was missing its telltale orange tip.

    A grainy video of the shooting captured by a surveillance camera provoked outrage nationally, and together with other killings of black people by police in places such as Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City, it helped fuel the Black Lives Matter movement.

    McGinty urged those who disagree with the grand jury decision to react peacefully, and said: “It is time for the community and all of us to start to heal.”

    The grand jury had been hearing evidence and testimony since mid-October.

    McGinty said Loehmann was justified in firing: “He had reason to fear for his life.”

    The prosecutor also said police radio personnel contributed to the tragedy by failing to pass along the “all-important fact” that the 911 caller said the gunman was probably a juvenile and the gun probably wasn’t real.

    “There have been lessons learned already. It should never happen again, and the city has taken steps so it doesn’t,” McGinty said. Among other things, the Cleveland police department is putting dashboard cameras in every car and equipping officers with bodycams.

    Also, the Cleveland police department reached a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department earlier this year to overhaul the way it uses force and deals with the public. It was prompted in large part by the killing of a couple in a 137-shot barrage of police gunfire after a high-speed chase.

    McGinty said it was a “tough conversation” with Tamir’s mother when she was told there would be no charges. “She was broken up, and it was very hard,” the prosecutor said.


    Listen to the VINnews podcast on:

    iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podbean | Amazon

    Follow VINnews for Breaking News Updates


    Connect with VINnews

    Join our WhatsApp group


    4 Comments
    Most Voted
    Newest Oldest
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    8 years ago

    take away the kids guns and they won’t get killed – i bet u never thought of that!!!

    puppydogs
    puppydogs
    8 years ago

    Public Beware!!! Stay out of Cleveland tonight.

    sheepheadsbayyid
    sheepheadsbayyid
    8 years ago

    it is a sad story the boy did not deserve to get killed but it is not the officers fault. Maybe some blame can be but on parents for buying him the gun.

    we should not have many callous remarks it was child an unfortunate accident. If the bot would be yid think how you would react

    On a side note I thought those fake guns that look real are illegal am i wrong? made illegal precisely to prevent accidents like this

    yaakov doe
    Member
    yaakov doe
    8 years ago

    If Ms Rice was so concerned about her son, she would have seen that he didn’t go around with a realistic looking toy gun.