Tamir Rice was shot within two seconds of police pulling up to the boy in a Cleveland park, with newly released footage appearing to contradict the original claim from officers that they warned the 12-year-old several times to drop what turned out to be a BB gun.
Rice’s death has prompted outrage in Cleveland, where police are facing growing criticism for shooting the boy to death.
A new report on Friday also revealed that the two officers who killed Rice did not administer first aid after the boy was wounded. Cleveland officials said it took close to four minutes before a detective and an FBI agent arrived and gave first aid, local station WEWS?TV reported. Rice was taken to a hospital, where he died of his injuries.
The incident happened on Saturday, when police in Cleveland received a 911 call that someone was waving a gun in a park. The caller told police that the gun was likely a fake and that the person carrying it was just a child, but those messages did not appear to be relayed to officers who responded.
On Wednesday, officials from the city of Cleveland released video of the shooting , which appeared to contradict statements from police that they gave Tamir Rice several warnings to drop the gun.
On Friday, the Cleveland Plain Dealer dealt some harsh criticism to the police department, saying in an editorial that the police “have a lot of explaining to do” regarding inconsistencies between the video and officers’ account of the shooting:
The police said two officers, responding to a 9-1-1 call, went to the park and saw Tamir take what they thought was a pistol from a table under a gazebo in the park and stuff it in his waistband. Police said that the boy was sitting with a group at the time.
Police also said that the officers told Tamir three times to raise his hands, and that when he reached for what they thought was a real pistol, he was shot.
The video, however, shows officers in a cruiser pull up within several feet of Rice, who was not with a group, but by himself underneath a gazebo. Immediately, even before the car stops rolling, the cruiser’s passenger side door opens, an officer emerges and fires at Tamir, who drops to the ground.
The Cleveland community is also demanding answers from police about the shooting of Tamir Rice. On Friday there was a public forum for residents to voice their concerns and question police directly.
