Just over a year ago, 12-year-old Tamir Rice was shot and killed by police in Cleveland after cops claimed they responded to a 911 call that a young man was traipsing through a playground brandishing a handgun, which turned out to be a toy gun. When authorities arrived on the scene, shots were fired at Rice within mere seconds, and he was killed on site. Surveillance video of the incident became the fuel for protests and outcry; it was clear from the footage that he wasn’t given time to clarify any information to the trigger happy officers.
Since then, his family has continued to seek closure and justice. An expert hired by the Rice family has revealed new information about the final seconds of Rice’s life that could be useful in court as legal action is taken against Tim Loehmann, the rookie cop responsible for Rice’s death. According to Jesse Wobrock, a shooting reconstruction expert, Rice’s hand was in his pocket when Loehmann opened fire, which will be an eye-opening piece of information for a grand jury. From the CBS report:
Wobrock said comparing the location of a bullet hole in Tamir’s jacket with the location of the wound on his body indicated that the boy had lifted his arm – with his hand in his pocket – at the moment he was shot.
Wobrock also went on to note that with the patrol car windows rolled up, there’s no way that Rice was able to hear commands to show his hands. It’s believed that Loehmann shot Rice within two seconds of opening his car door.
