A video of the fatal police shooting of a 12-year-old boy shows him pointing a pellet gun around a park before police arrive and shoot him within two seconds of exiting their police patrol car, according to Voice of America.
In a statement, the Tamir E. Rice family said the video shows the police officer shooting immediately after getting out of the car, and questions if the officer had not acted so quickly, would their son still be alive, according to the Associated Press. Rice died this past Sunday.
"It is our belief that this situation could have been avoided and that Tamir should still be here with us," said the family in a statement, the AP reported. "The video shows one thing distinctly: the police officers reacted quickly."
The statement was released by the family's attorney, and also said that the family hopes Cleveland police and Cuyahoga County prosecutors "thoroughly examine" what happened at the park that day, according to the AP.
Rice was shot by a patrol officer on Saturday after a 911 call reported someone pointing a gun at people at the Cudell Recreation Center, although the caller said the gun could be a fake, the AP reported.
After Rice is seen in the gazebo pointing the fake gun in various directions, a squad car can be seen rushing into the gazebo, as two officers immediately get out and one of them shoots at the 12-year-old, according to the AP.
The video shows the boy walking and pointing the gun in different directions before entering a gazebo, VOA reported.
Then, a patrol car with two officers pulls up to the gazebo, and the first to get out, identified by a city official as Timothy Loehmann, 26, shoots almost immediately, according to VOA.
There is no audio in the video, but officials report the two officers allegedly told Rice to raise his hands three times before shooting, the VOA reported. When, and if, exactly the officers said told Rice to raise his hands three times, is not known.
One of the main questions being asked is why the officers pulled in so close to the boy and gazebo upon arrival, according to the VOA.
