CLEVELAND – Cleveland’s mayor says the city and police department will proceed with an administrative review which could result in discipline against two officers involved in the fatal shooting of a 12-year-old boy with a pellet gun.
A grand jury has declined to indict the officers in the Nov. 2014 death of Tamir Rice.
Tamir’s family condemned the decision but urged those disappointed to express themselves peacefully. Small groups of protesters gathered Monday outside a government building and the recreation center where Tamir was shot by then-rookie patrolman Timothy Loehmann. The size of those protests likely was reduced by steady rain that fell throughout the day.
An attorney representing Loehmann’s partner says the shooting was a “tragic incident” but was legal. Patrolman Frank Garmback was driving the cruiser that carried him and Loehmann to the scene where Loehmann shot Rice within two seconds of the cruiser skidding to a stop near the boy.
Garmback’s attorney said Monday the grand jury made the correct decision and the officers acted within the bounds of the law. He says police are authorized to use deadly force.
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty said the death of Tamir was the result of “a perfect storm of human error, mistakes and miscommunication” but the evidence did not indicate criminal conduct by Loehmann or Garmback.