Security video released in officer shooting of Cleveland boy
CLEVELAND — Cleveland police tackled, handcuffed and detained the 14-year-old sister of Tamir Rice after an officer fatally shot the boy in a city park in November, according to security video released by the city on Thursday.
The girl can be seen in the footage running toward the site on Nov. 22 after Cleveland Police Officer Timothy Loehmann shot Rice, 12. After being handcuffed, she was put into a squad car several feet away from her brother’s body.
Rice family lawyer Walter Madison identified her as Rice’s sister.
Cleveland police initially released security video of the minutes leading up to Rice’s shooting that showed he was shot within seconds of police arriving at the park in response to a report of a suspect waving a handgun around.
The Rice shooting came at a time of heightened scrutiny over use of force by police around the United States, including Cleveland.
“Under the circumstances it is outrageous behavior,” Madison said on Thursday of the police’s treatment of Rice’s sister.
“She was significantly restrained and held captive to helplessly watch her brother die,” Madison said. “As more and more information is revealed, it makes us more focused on seeking justice.”
Rice, a sixth grader, died a day after the shooting. He had been carrying a replica handgun that typically shoots plastic pellets. Cleveland has transferred the investigation into Rice’s shooting to the Cuyahoga County sheriff’s department.
Loehmann has been on administrative leave since the shooting. In Ohio, all deadly force cases involving the police are automatically sent to a grand jury.
Rice’s family has called for prosecutors to charge Loehmann without waiting for a grand jury review of evidence, noting that grand juries chose not to indict white officers in the deaths of African-Americans Michael Brown in Missouri and Eric Garner in New York. Rice was black, and Loehmann is white.
A U.S. Department of Justice investigation found in December that Cleveland’s police force systematically engages in excessive use of force.
A spokesman for the city of Cleveland, Daniel Williams, said that after consulting with the legal department and police, the city decided to make the extended video including Rice’s sister available.
