[ 2014-11-27 ]

Video shows how police shot black boy, 12, in 2 seconds
A 12-year-old black youth playing with a toy gun
in a park was given less than two seconds to
respond to a command to put his hands up before he
was shot dead by a police officer, police have
confirmed.
CCTV footage of Tamir Rice’s death appears to
contradict the police report filed by 26-year-old
rookie officer Timothy Loehmann that he had asked
the child three times to “show his hands”.
Ed Tomba, deputy police chief in the city of
Cleveland, Ohio, said at a press conference that
“1.5 to 2 seconds” elapsed between Officer
Loehmann and Officer Frank Garmback screeching up
over the frozen grass in their police cruiser, and
Tamir dropping to the ground in convulsions.
The officers kicked the airsoft gun away, but the
video shows that neither attempted to administer
first aid as Tamir bled to death in the slush.
A post-mortem by the Cuyahoga County pathologist
showed he died from a gunshot wound to the stomach
with “injuries of major vessel, intestines and
pelvis”.
At first the police issued only a 30-second edited
version of the footage, which shows Tamir prowling
under a gazebo in the park with his hands in his
pockets, followed by the arrival of the officers
and the shooting.
The full CCTV footage, released by the city
authorities after Tamir’s parents appealed to
the city mayor, paints a different picture. Over
the space of half an hour Tamir seems the picture
of a bored schoolboy as he moves in and out of
shot, pacing up and down, making a snowball and
throwing it harmlessly onto the pavement, talking
on his phone and sitting at a picnic table with
his head in his hands.
For much of the time he is watched by another
person sitting a few feet away under the gazebo,
apparently unconcerned by the boy’s behaviour.
As Tamir practises levelling the realistic-looking
airsoft gun, which was missing the orange plastic
indicator on its muzzle that showed it was a
non-lethal toy, a pedestrian walks by.
The boy appears to speak to the person, walking
backwards to maintain eye contact while keeping
pace with them.
Some time afterwards a member of the public rang
the 911 emergency number to report “a guy with a
gun pointing it at people”.
“The guy keeps pulling it out,” the 911 caller
said. “It’s probably fake, but you know what,
he’s scaring the (expletive) out of (inaudible).
... He’s sitting on the swing right now, but he
keeps pulling it in and out of his pants and
pointing it at people. Probably a juvenile, you
know? … I don’t know if it’s real or not,
you know?”
The caller added that the gun was “probably
fake”, but the Cleveland police patrolmen’s
association says that this detail was not passed
on to Officers Loehmann and Garmback who arrived
minutes later.
Within the space of five seconds, the video shows
the cruiser coming into view, bumping over the
grass to pull up about six feet from Tamir. The
back door opens, two shots are fired and the boy
falls.
The officers shelter behind the car, guns
levelled, as his legs are seen kicking
convulsively.
The shocking incident has gathered extra political
weight because it occurred during the ongoing
protests over the shooting dead of an 18-year-old
black youth by a white police officer in the city
of Ferguson, Missouri.
Violent demonstrations exploded in Ferguson and
peaceful street protests took place in many other
US cities after a grand jury in Ferguson decided
on Tuesday that Officer Darren Wilson should face
no charges for killing Michael Brown in August.
Protesters voiced outrage that police appeared to
take the lives of black youths with impunity, as
the hashtag #2seconds began trending on Twitter in
the US.
“It is our prayer and request for citizens in
the City of Cleveland and throughout Northeast
Ohio to remain calm at this time,” Tamir’s
parents, Samaria Rice and Leonard Warner, said in
a statement.
“We ask for the public to demonstrate
peacefully.
“Though the hurt our family feels is too painful
for words to describe, we still have faith in the
justice system.”
Mr Loehmann, who joined the police in March and
Officer Garmback, 46, who has been an officer for
six years, are on paid administrative leave while
the prosecutor’s office decides whether to
pursue criminal charges.
Ms Rice and Mr Warner paid tribute to Tamir, who
had no previous record of run-ins with the
police.
“He was a loving brother. He was a grandson. He
was a nephew and cousin. His favourite sport was
basketball. Tamir often visited the Cudell
Recreation Center to play with friends. Most of
all, he enjoyed being around people. Everyone
loved him,” they said.
“The holiday season begins this week. Instead of
the love, fellowship and joy the season brings to
many families, we will be mourning the loss of
Tamir. We looked forward to spending Thanksgiving
with Tamir as a family. His mother’s birthday is
on Christmas Eve. Now, she won’t have the
opportunity to share it with her son. We feel he
did not deserve to be taken away from us.”

Source - The Times(UK)

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