Officer Who Fatally Shot 12-Year-Old Has Resigned

(NationRise.com) – The former Cleveland cop who killed a 12-year-old kid back in 2014 resigned from a West Virginia police department on July 1.

Police officer Timothy Loehmann fatally shot Tamir Rice in November 2014 when he and his then-police partner Frank Garmback were responding to a 911 call of a male suspect who was pointing his handgun at people.

The call said to the dispatcher that a juvenile might be involved and that the pistol he was carrying might be fake. Police reports detailed that Loehmann and his partner never received that information and killed Rice outside a Cleveland recreation center. The two cops said in their statements, following the fatal shooting, that Loehmann gave Rice numerous commands to throw his gun and show his hands, but eventually shot at him as they felt threatened by what they thought was a real gun.

Loehmann was working as a probationary cop and at-will worker in the West Virginia southeastern city of White Sulphur Springs. In a statement, the Mayor of West Virginia Kathy Glover announced his resignation and said that the reason behind his decision was a “personal matter.” She also detailed that Loehmann was hired at the recommendation and request of the city police chief.

The fatal shooting of Rice sparked numerous months of demonstrations in various cities across the United States over police brutality against black people. A state grand jury refused to indict the two police officers. Loehmann was fired in May 2017 by the Cleveland Police Department, which detailed in a statement that his application contained some inaccuracies.

Three years later, the United States Department of Justice said that, following an in-depth investigation into the matter, it decided not to bring any criminal charge against the two officers involved in the shooting. In a statement, the DOJ explained that the video that showed the moment when Garmback and Loehmann killed Rice had such a poor quality that it was almost impossible for prosecutors to properly determine what happened.