Cleveland police have released video footage showing the moment 12-year-old Tamir Rice was shot dead by a rookie officer who mistook his BB gun for a real weapon.

The boy was shot by Timothy Loehmann, 26, on Saturday after a 911 caller reported seeing a juvenile waving around a gun - but did not know whether or not it was real. Newly-released audio showed that the 911 dispatcher did not pass on this concern to the responding officers.

At a press conference on Wednesday, authorities released the 911 call, police dispatch calls and a grainy video showing the moment the officers arrived and shot the boy.

The footage shows Rice - who the officers thought was about 20 - reaching for his waistband instead of responding to police requests to raise his hands, police said. They fatally shot him just two seconds after pulling up in their cruiser, the footage shows.

Surveillance footage shows 12-year-old Tamir Rice raising and pointing his replica gun as he walks through a park in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday. Just moments later, he was fatally shot by police

Honing in: Moments after a witness called 911 about the boy, police pull up in their cruiser and he can be seen reaching down towards his beltline. Authorities say that officers told him three times to raise his hands

'Threat': Rather than raising his hands, he puts one of his hands at his waistband

Hit: The youngster - who cops thought might be about 20 - doubles over as he is shot by a police officer

Response: The officer can be seen kicking away the gun as the boy is on the ground. They called for back up

The surveillance video, taken from a nearby building, starts with footage of the boy wandering along a path on Saturday afternoon as the 911 caller sits beneath a gazebo behind him.

As the boy walks, he can be seen waving the gun around and on at least two occasions, he brings it to eye level and points it. On other occasions, his hands are empty and he speaks on his cell phone.

Gunned down: Tamir Rice, 12, was fatally shot by police on Saturday and passed away on Sunday

'The guy keeps pulling it out of his pants and pointing it at people,' the 911 caller said, adding that it was 'scaring the s***' out of him.

'I don't know if it's real or not,' he added.

The female dispatcher then put out a call for officers, but did not tell them that the weapon might be a fake, audio showed. Officers headed to the scene.

On the footage, the 911 caller then leaves the gazebo and the boy heads beneath the shelter, with the gun visible in his hand. Again, he can be seen raising the gun and pointing it as he walks around.

A few seconds later, the police cruiser drives up next to the boy. The car was carrying Loehmann and the driver, Officer Frank Garmback, 46.

While it was pulling up, Loehmann yelled through his open door three times, telling the boy to raise his hands, Cleveland Police Deputy Chief Edward Tomba said at the press conference. The footage has no audio.

On the video, the boy does not put up his hands and instead can be seen reaching for his waistband.

He then doubles over after being shot by the officer, who is standing fewer than 10 feet away.

It took between one-and-a-half and two seconds between when the officers pulled up and when the boy was shot, Tomba said.

Shooter: Timothy Loehmann, pictured left at his swearing in ceremony, fired the fatal shot on Saturday

At the wheel: Frank Garmback, 46, was driving the police cruiser when his fellow officer shot the child

'IT'S PROBABLY A FAKE': 911 CALL Cleveland police officers were alerted to the park after a man called 911 on Wednesday afternoon. He told the dispatcher that he had seen a man, who was wearing a camo hat and a gray jacket, waving a gun around. 'The guy keeps pulling it out,' he said on the call. 'It's probably fake, but you know what, he's scaring the s*** out of (inaudible). 'He's sitting on the swing right now, but he keeps pulling it in and out of his pants and pointing it at people. 'Probably a juvenile, you know? 'I don't know if it's real or not, you know?'' Advertisement

With Tamir on the ground, Loehmann kicks away the replica gun, which was dropped on the floor as the boy fell.

'Shots fired,' one of the officers tells the dispatcher on another call. 'Male down, black male, maybe 20, black hand gun.'

In fact, it emerged that the boy was just 12 and was carrying a replica 'airsoft' gun.

Airsoft guns fire spherical plastic pellets and have orange tips to show they aren't real firearms, but police said the one the boy had didn't have the bright safety indicator, making it indistinguishable from a real firearm.

Tomba said that Loehmann, who only joined the team in March, was on his shift with Garmback, a certified training field officer.

Both of the officers have given statements and are on administrative leave. He said that the call from the dispatcher was also under investigation.

But in response to questions over her failure to mention the gun could be fake, he said dispatchers had to strike a balance between 'the need to get information to that zone car with the need to give every bit of information that we can'.

Records show that Loehmann graduated Benedictine High School, a Catholic school in Cleveland, and studied at Tiffin University, a private co-educational university in Tiffin, Ohio.

He later gained a BA in Criminology/Sociology from Cleveland State University and went on to attend the Cleveland Heights Police Academy.

He was sworn in as a full-time police officer in Independence, Ohio, by the city's mayor Mark Buehner, in July 2012, and started as a city police officer in Ohio in March 2014.

Shooting: On Sunday, Tamir's father, Gregory Henderson,said the youngster had his whole life ahead of him when he was gunned down outside Cudell Recreation Center. Above, the BB gun that Tamir was carrying

Anger: Demonstrators block Public Square in Cleveland on Tuesday as they protest the boy's shooting

Speaking out: Demonstrators march toward Public Square in Cleveland on Tuesday - as protesters across the country slammed a grand jury's decision not to indict a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri for a killing

The family's attorneys saw the video of the shooting on Monday, a day after Tamir died, and agreed for the full footage to be released publicly.

Officials had been withholding the video, saying that it was evidence in the investigation and that they wanted to be sensitive to the family, the community and the officer, whom they said was distraught.

Earlier this week, Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams said he spoke to Loehmann and said he 'is broken up about this' and 'didn't want to do this, but had to protect himself'.

The police department will now present the footage and other evidence to the county prosecutor's office. Prosecutors will then present the case to a grand jury, which will decide whether the officer was justified in using force against the boy.

On Tuesday, several hundred people marched down an exit ramp and temporarily blocked rush-hour traffic on a busy freeway in protest of the incident.

Police diverted traffic but didn't take action against the protesters, who chanted phrases such as 'Hands up, don't shoot' and 'No justice, no peace' as they sat in a major intersection. One man was seen being arrested and dragged away by cops.

Arrest: Cleveland police arrest a protester in Cleveland during the demonstration for justice for Tamir

Protest: Police take the demonstrator away in a police car, three days after the young boy was killed in a park

Standing up: Police watch the demonstrators on Tuesday, a day ahead of the release of video of the incident

The demonstration came as people across the country continued to protest a grand jury's decision this week not to indict a white police officer, Darren Wilson, who killed an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri in August.

The crowd in Cleveland blocked the freeway for about an hour before returning to a downtown square, where it dispersed. The demonstrators passed by the Cuyahoga County jail, causing inmates to bang on their windows.

The shooting of Tamir Rice has led to an investigation of the officer's use of force and protests referencing this and other police-involved shootings.

An attorney for the boy's family, Timothy Kucharski, said Tamir went to the park with friends on Saturday afternoon, but he did not know the details of what led to his shooting.

'This is not a black and white issue,' he said. 'This is a right and wrong issue. This is not a racial issue. This is about people doing their jobs the right way.'

On Sunday Tamir's father Gregory Henderson said the youngster had his whole life ahead of him when he was gunned down.

Too young: Tamir's father said he was distraught over the death of his 'superhero', Tamir (pictured), whom he described as a keen basketball player who was tall for his size, polite and 'very artistic'

Scene: Investigators gather at the scene of the shooting after Tamir was fatally wounded on Saturday

Wiping away tears, he said: 'Who would've thought he would go so soon? He had his whole life ahead. To be 12 years old, he doesn't know what he's doing. Police, they know what they're doing.'

'I'm trying not to cry about the situation but the situation hurts,' he told WKYC.com, adding that he wished police had Tasered his son instead of immediately shooting him.

He added that he was still shocked at the death of his 'superhero', whom he described as a keen basketball player who was tall for his size, polite and 'very artistic'.

The incident has also contributed to a state lawmaker's plan to propose legislation requiring all BB guns, air rifles and airsoft guns sold in Ohio to be brightly colored or have prominent fluorescent strips.