Surveillance of a 12-year-old boy being shot and killed by a rookie police officer in Cleveland has been released.
Last Saturday (Nov. 22), a man called 911 to report that someone was waving a gun around scaring people at a playground at the Cudell Recreation Center. He told the 911 dispatcher that the gun was most likely fake, however that tidbit was not told to the responding officers. Rice was playing with an “airsoft” replica toy gun that shoots pellets.
In the video, Rice can be seen pointing the gun at times while pacing the sidewalk. At the 7:10 mark, the police car rapidly pulls up and officer Timothy Loehmann hops out and immediately shoots and kills Rice. Police said that when Loehmann and his partner Frank Garmback were approaching Rice, he began to reach for his toy gun.
The family of the 12-year-old reportedly advocated for the release of this surveillance footage.
A grand jury will decide if the officers will be charged for Rice’s death. Watch the footage below (footage may be disturbing).
