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Previously unseen videos reveal inconsistencies in the story told by the police officer who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice in a Cleveland park.
What Happened?
Cleveland.com obtained two videos previously unseen by the public that feature police interviews with Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback, two of the officers involved in the shooting of Tamir Rice, who was playing with a toy gun in the park. The city of Cleveland passed down internal discipline charges against Garmback, Loehmann and one other officer after a grand jury refused to press criminal charges.
In his interview with investigators, Loehmann said that he yelled “Put your hands in the air! Let me see your weapon! Freeze!” when the car was within 30 yards of Rice. Meanwhile, in a written statement to a grand jury, Loehmann said that he only opened the door and started yelling when his car had started rolling to a stop, according to Cleveland.com.
The two officers were responding to a call of a male in the park pointing a gun at people. The caller told the police dispatcher that the suspect was likely a young person and the gun was “probably fake.”
“The threat just became incredible,” says Loehmann in the video. “I had to make the decision fast because Frank and I were in immediate danger.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coy31uM05sc
Garmback said in his own interview with investigators that he instructed the younger Loehman on the “gun run” and discussed how he would drive the police cruiser from behind to surround the suspect without a chance to escape.
“I stopped him at that point and said, ‘This is a gun run. Be prepared for the worst-case scenario. Have your gun unholstered already on your lap,'” said Garmback, who broke cried several times during the video interview as he recounted the moment he realized Rice was a child.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG8Uq9G6bas
Loehmann’s response was deemed to be a justified use of force under the circumstances, though he still faces disciplinary charges for failing to disclose earlier incidents from another police department that could have indicated his emotional instability on his officer application, while Garmback faces charges for bringing the police car too close to Rice. The police dispatcher has been suspended.
Subodh Chandra, a lawyer representing the Rice family, told Cleveland.com that the new videos could serve as an opportunity for some accountability in the shooting.
“As public anguish regarding young Tamir’s slaying continues, the physically impossible accounts and inconsistencies the officers offer in their video-recorded interviews raise the stakes for this last chance at public accountability through the absurdly delayed discipline process,” he said.
