Cleveland Cops Tackled, Cuffed Dying Boy's Sister

They made no attempt to help Tamir Rice
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 8, 2015 10:17 PM CST
Updated Jan 9, 2015 4:30 AM CST

A lawyer for Tamir Rice's family calls it the cruelest thing he's ever seen. In newly released surveillance video, two Cleveland police officers can be seen pushing the boy's 14-year-old sister to the ground as she tried to run to her brother's side just 90 seconds after he had been fatally shot by another officer. After a struggle, she is handcuffed and placed in the back of a squad car just a few feet from where her 12-year-old brother lay dying, reports Cleveland.com, which obtained the video after what it calls "protracted talks" with city officials who initially refused to release it. The video shows that in the minutes after the shooting, police stood around the wounded boy, who had been carrying a pellet gun, but made no attempt to offer first aid.

The first person to begin first aid was an FBI agent who arrived around four minutes after the shooting, the AP reports. Tamir, who had been shot in the abdomen, wasn't pronounced dead until nine hours later. "How inhumane to put her in handcuffs and sit her in the car about 4 feet from where her brother lay dying and she has to watch that," another lawyer tells the New York Times. "And they rendered no aid to this kid." Tim Loehmann, the rookie officer who fired the fatal shot seconds after arriving on the scene, was found unfit to serve in his previous police job. Prosecutors are expected to present the case to a grand jury to determine whether Loehmann and his partner should face criminal charges. (More Tamir Rice stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X