Cleveland Police Release Video Of Tamir Rice Shooting [Graphic]

The Cleveland Police Department has released video footage of the fatal shooting of unarmed 12-year-old Tamir Rice.

Tamir was fatally shot by Cleveland police on November 23 outside Cudell Recreation Center. A 911 caller had alerted to police to a person “pulling [a gun] out of his pants and pointing it at people,” according to Clevescene. The 911 caller told police that the weapon was “probably fake,” and that the person pointing it at people was “probably a juvenile.”

The Cleveland Police Department maintains that the officers involved in Tamir’s shooting were not made aware of the fact that the gun — which turned out to be an Airsoft toy gun — was fake, according to this story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

“The caller twice said the gun was ‘probably fake’ and told dispatchers the person pulling the gun from his waistband was ‘probably a juvenile,’ according to audio released by police officials late Saturday. The caller’s doubt was never relayed to the responding officers.”

The grainy, silent video footage was recorded by a security camera at the recreation center, overlooking the gazebo where Tamir was shot. It was revealed to the public, and the media, at a press conference in Cleveland earlier today, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The 59-second video posted above has been “compressed for time,” says deputy chief Ed Tomba. The longer video, which is posted below, shows the incident in its entirety. In it, Tamir moves off-camera for several minutes at a time.

In the video, the 911 caller can be seen sitting at a picnic table as Tamir walks back and forth, pointing the toy gun at the caller at least twice. He can also be seen throwing a snowball and talking on his cell phone.

Once the police car pulls up, the rest of the events play out pretty quickly. The police officer in the passenger seat gets out and Tamir appears to lift his shirt with his right hand. He then falls down; Tomba says the fatal shots were fired within two seconds of the car pulling up.

“Three commands were given to show your hands by Officer Loehman. [The commands came] out the door… as they pulled up.”

However, since the video is silent, Tomba’s claim that the officers ordered Tamir to put his hands up can’t be confirmed as of this post.

The video was released with the blessing of Tamir Rice’s family, who have been asking for its release since the shooting, according to this Inquisitr report.

[Image courtesy of the Express]