Following the shooting of an African American child by Ohio police officers in Nov. 2014, his murder has been ruled justifiable in a report prepared for Cuyahoga County prosecutors.
Tamir Rice was 12 years old at the time of his death, and was reportedly playing with a toy gun in the park, according to Mother Jones. After a witness called 911 complaining of Rice playing with a toy gun, police were called to the scene. The caller said the person in question was "probably a juvenile," and the gun was "probably fake," but dispatchers reportedly failed to relay the message to the dispatched officers Timothy Loehman and Frank Garmback.
Though this shooting was ruled justified by two members of the D.A.'s office, a grand jury will ultimately decide whether or not to indict the two officers, according to Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty.
This homicide stirred up a lot of controversy because the nation was already upset with shootings of unarmed black men by police officers, according to CNN, such as Eric Garner and Mike Brown. Though the shooting was ruled as "objectively reasonable," according to reports written by S. Lamar Sims, the senior chief deputy district attorney in Denver, members of the community believe the officers involved should be criminally charged.
"I think that a failure to indict or a failure to convict would just be another blow to a city and a community that is beat down," 34-year-old Cleveland resident Rachelle Smith said, according to The New York Times.
Loehman, who was an officer in training at the time of the shooting, was described as "distracted" by Independence Police Sgt. Greg Tinnirello, Loehman's former employer, according to a written report released by Independence. This stopped him from completing handgun training at a time when he was having issues with his on-again and off-again girlfriend.
"[Loehman] could not follow simple directions, could not communicate clear thoughts nor recollections, and his handgun performance was dismal," Tinnirello wrote. Following the shooting of Rice, the officers did not give him medical attention for at least four minutes, according to Mother Jones. When Rice's sister approached the scene she was reportedly tackled by Garmback.
