Officers Who Killed Tamir Rice Say They Were Not Indifferent to Dying Boy

The Cleveland police officers who fatally shot Tamir Rice filed a legal motion Friday to dismiss the medical-indifference claim alleged in the wrongful death lawsuit of Tamir’s family, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  

Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback argued in the motion (pdf) that they “did not show a deliberate indifference to medical needs” after Loehmann shot 12-year-old Tamir last year because “the appropriate aid had been summoned.”

An FBI agent and another Cleveland police officer arrived at the recreation center about four minutes after the shooting. The FBI agent told investigators that he took charge of trying to save Tarmir, whose intestines were protruding out his body through the gunshot wound. He added that the officers “wanted to do something, but they didn’t know what to do.”

Meanwhile, a grand jury is hearing evidence on possible criminal charges against the officers. A third outside police expert said on Thursday that Loehmann acted reasonably when he shot Tamir, who was playing with a toy gun. Weeks earlier, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty released two other reports by independent police experts who also said that Loehmann acted appropriately.

Tamir was playing with a pellet gun at a Cleveland recreational center when Loehmann and Garmback pulled up to him on Nov. 22, 2014. A video captured the moment when the officers respond to the 911 call. In it, they pull up to Tamir in their patrol car. Loehmann shoots the boy within seconds of arriving. The officers reportedly were not aware that a witness had said that the gun was probably a fake and that Tamir looked like a juvenile.

Attorneys for Tamir’s family argue vehemently that McGinty chose experts who lean toward law enforcement. They’re calling for a special prosecutor to handle the case.