The Cleveland police department on Wednesday released surveillance footage of the shooting of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old who was playing with an airsoft gun, at the request of Rice’s family.
The video shows Rice playing with an airsoft gun alone outside a recreational center in Cleveland. A man called 911 out of fear that the boy had a real gun. However, in a recording that was released later, the caller mentioned that the gun was “probably a fake,” but the dispatcher did not relay that information to the responding officers.
Rice pointed the gun at a passerby at some point. The boy was later seen talking on his cellphone and kicking up snow before sitting down inside a nearby gazebo.
Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback arrived at the scene. Loehmann, a rookie officer, fired his gun within seconds. Cleveland police had said earlier that Loehmann fired two shots at the child, who died the next day.
Authorities said the gun held by Rice did not have an orange safety marker to indicate it was not a real firearm.
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