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Tamir Rice: judge finds cause for murder charge over police killing of 12-year-old Read more

An Ohio prosecutor released a comprehensive account of the investigation into the death of Tamir Rice on Saturday, including witness reports that contradict a police officer’s claim that he shouted a warning before shooting and killing the 12-year-old boy last November.

Tamir was shot as he played in a Cleveland park, after police responded to a 911 call reporting a male with a firearm. He was playing with a toy plastic gun. The death and a delay in its investigation sparked public outrage and protests.

On Thursday, Cleveland municipal court judge Ronald Adrine said he found probable cause to bring a murder charge against the officer who fired the fatal shot, Timothy Loehmann. Adrine’s ruling, which prosecutors will consider, followed a request to look into the case by a group known as the Cleveland 8, a number of clergymen and local activists who support the Rice family.

In releasing a redacted 224-page account of the investigation by the Cuyahoga County sheriff’s department on Saturday, prosecutor Timothy McGinty said his intention was to be transparent.

“Transparency is essential for an intelligent discussion of the important issues raised by this case,” he said.

“If we wait years for all litigation to be completed before the citizens are allowed to know what actually happened, we will have squandered our best opportunity to institute needed changes in use-of-force policy, police training and leadership.”

The report made no conclusion as to whether the killing was justified, following a statement issued by McGinty on Thursday that a grand jury would ultimately decide whether criminal charges would be brought.

“As unbiased collectors of fact, the investigative team has not, and will not, render any opinion of the legality of the officers’ actions,” the report states.

Loehmann, 26, told investigators that when he arrived at the park and confronted Tamir, he told him several times to put his hands in the air, but the boy instead reached into his waistband and produced what turned out to be a toy gun.

“He gave me no choice, he reached for the gun and there was nothing I could do,” Loehmann said in his incident report.

Other officers at the scene reported that they thought the boy was aged about 20 and that they believed the gun was real.

None of the witnesses whose accounts appear in the report, however, say they heard Loehmann or any other officer shout a warning to Tamir, leaving detectives to conclude that “it is unclear whether Officer Loehmann issued verbal commands”.

A 31-year-old woman, whose name was redacted from the report, told investigators she heard someone shout “Freeze! Show me your hands”, but only after she heard two gunshots. She said she heard a third shot after the shouting.

A 15-year-old boy who knew Tamir said he heard two shots close together and a third a short while later.

Detectives heard from another friend who said he gave the boy the toy gun, which fired small plastic pellets, days before the incident. The friend said he had taken the gun apart and was unable to reattach the highly visible orange cap that would have immediately indicated the gun was not real.

Meanwhile, an FBI agent who was on duty at a separate incident nearby told how he gave Tamir first aid within four minutes of the shooting. The agent said Loehmann and an officer with him seemed to freeze.

“They wanted to do something, but they didn’t know what to do,” the agent told investigators. Tamir died in hospital the next day.

Loehmann declined to be interviewed by the investigators, as did his training partner, Frank Garmback, 47, who was also present at the scene. The grand jury will determine if charges will be brought against him.

Members of the Rice family similarly decided not to be interviewed. Walter Madison, the family’s attorney, could not be reached on Saturday for comment but issued a statement welcoming the report’s release.

“I appreciate the recent work of the Cleveland 8 and all others in this city in their tireless efforts to move the wheels of justice,” he said.

“The Honorable Judge Ronald Adrine swiftly and decisively found probable cause for murder and other homicide offenses. Within 36 hours we now have a public release of the county sheriff’s investigation. Let’s continue this fight for equal justice for all, it is working.”

Steven Loomis, president of the police union representing Loehmann, said he did not agree with the decision to publish the report. McGinty, however, said it was the right thing to do.

“The death of a citizen resulting from the use of deadly force by the police is different from all other cases and deserves a high level of public scrutiny,” he said.

“These cases involve officers [and] public employees whose decision to take a fellow citizen’s life must be evaluated to determine, by law, whether the police officer’s action was reasonable under the circumstances and therefore justifiable.”