Officials in Cleveland have announced there will be administrative charges for three officers involved in the fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.
Police Chief Calvin Williams says he has reviewed reports on the shooting involving Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback. He says he’s made recommendations regarding violations of the department’s rules, regulations, tactics and procedures. The next phase is hearings about those violations.
“We're not at the end of this process. Once the hearings are conducted, and once the officers are given their due process -- their chance to defend themselves against the charges -- then there will be a determination made, if they are found guilty of the charges that are levied against them, what happens with that officer after that time."
Chief Williams said the specific charges will be announced later; they range from administrative violations to use-of-force violations.
Along with Officers Loehmann and Garmback, a third officer faces charges in the shooting. Williams says Officer William Cunningham was working at Cudell Recreation Center. Riice was shot outside the center by Loehmann, within two seconds of Garmbeck driving his cruiser onto the scene. The boy had a toy gun officers said they thought was real.
The head of Cleveland’s police union, Steve Loomis, responded to the charges in a letter late Friday, saying that Garmback’s cruiser slid in the mud and ice at the center, while the charges against Loehmann seem “created to discipline or discharge him, despite the fact that he did nothing wrong.”
Cunningham faces two charges in the shooting, one working at the center without telling his superiors and one for signing a false report.
The attorney for Tamir Rice's mother responded to the charges, saying they are "disappointing and insufficient," and that the family was "disrespected" since it was not notified about the press conference held by city officials on Friday evening. The city has settled a civil suit with the Rice family for $6 million.
