Tamir Rice Cop Shooting Video: Cleveland, Ohio Police Waited 4 Minutes Before Giving 12-Year-Old With Toy Gun First Aid
After opening fire on a 12-year-old boy holding a toy gun, two Cleveland police officers waited four minutes to administer first aid to the child.
According to the New York Daily News, Tamir Rice lay bleeding in the grass for four minutes until a detective and FBI agent arrived at the scene. That's when the medically trained FBI agent administered life-saving care, three minutes before a medical team showed up.
Nevertheless, the boy died a lay later, after being transported to the hospital.
Dan Williams, a spokesman for Mayor Frank Jackson, told NewsChannel 5 he was not sure of how and when officers are required to provide medical assistance. He added that the officers are under investigation.
The Department of Justice also launched an ongoing investigation into the Cleveland Police "over allegations of excessive and unreasonable deadly force," reports the Washington Post.
Last week, Cleveland police released video footage of the fatal playground shooting that took place in early November. In the grainy black-and-white surveillance video, Rice is seen walking around and waving a pellet gun outside the Cudell Recreation Center. He eventually sat down on a park bench in the park's gazebo before a cop car pulls up near him. A rookie policeman then jumps out of the car and opens fire two seconds after arriving on the scene.
Cops were called to the playground after a man who was sitting in a nearby gazebo called 911 to report that he saw someone pointing a gun at people. Although the caller stated several times that the weapon was probably a toy, the dispatcher did not transmit that information to the responding officers.
As a result, the officers believed they were looking for an adult black male on a "gun run," said Deputy Chief Ed Tomba at the conference, according to NBC News.
Officers Timothy Loehmann, 26, and Frank Garmback, 46, said that the child was told three times to put his hands in the air while they were still in the car. Instead, the cops said that he reached for the gun in his waistband.
Loehmann, who had been on the job for about eight months, was about 10 feet away from Rice when he shot him.
Both officers have both been placed on administrative leave as the investigation continues. A grand jury will decide whether to indict either one in Rice's death.
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