CLEVELAND – A white Cleveland police officer who fatally shot a 12-year-old black boy carrying a pellet gun told investigators that he continuously told the boy to show his hands before he fired.
Prosecutors on Tuesday released statements that the rookie patrolman and his training officer gave investigators after Tamir Rice's shooting just over a year ago.
A grand jury is hearing evidence on whether patrolman Timothy Loehmann should be charged criminally for killing the boy outside a Cleveland recreation center.
In his statement, Loehmann described in detail actions that a surveillance video shows took about two seconds.
The patrolman said the boy didn't obey commands to show his hands and that Tamir was pulling a weapon from his waistband just before Loehmann fired. The boy's gun looked real but actually fired nonlethal plastic pellets.
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