Justice Department will not lodge federal criminal charges in Tamir Rice case

The U.S. Justice Department announced on Tuesday that career prosecutors scrutinizing the independent federal investigation regarding the 2014 deadly shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice found insufficient evidence for federal criminal charges.

"The Justice Department announced today that the career prosecutors reviewing the independent federal investigation into the fatal shooting of Tamir Rice on Nov. 22, 2014, in Cleveland, Ohio, found insufficient evidence to support federal criminal charges against Cleveland Division of Police (CDP) Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback," the DOJ noted in a press release. 

"In sum, after extensive examination of the facts in this tragic event, career Justice Department prosecutors have concluded that the evidence is insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Loehmann willfully violated Tamir Rice’s constitutional rights, or that Officers Loehmann or Garmback obstructed justice," the release noted.

According to the DOJ, Rice had been at the Cudell Park Recreation Center (CPRC) in November 2014 with a toy airsoft gun that resembled a real weapon, which he had pointed at people.

"At approximately 3:11 p.m., an individual made a '911' call to report that a 'guy with a pistol' was pointing a gun at multiple people on the playground at the CPRC," the press release said. "The caller gave a detailed description of the individual, stated that he was 'probably a juvenile,' and that the gun was 'probably fake,' but he also described the scene as very frightening. On the date of the incident, Tamir was 12-years-old and stood 5'7" and 195 lbs."

The dispatcher did not inform the officers that the person could be a juvenile or that the weapon could be fake, according to the release.

During the incident, "Officer Loehmann fired two shots within less than two seconds of opening the passenger door, striking Tamir once in the abdomen," the release said. 

The two police officers indicated in statements that Loehmann issued commands for Rice to show his hands prior to the fatal shooting and that they had witnessed Rice reaching for his gun, the DOJ release said.

“It’s beyond comprehension that the Department couldn’t recognize that an officer who claims he shouted commands when the patrol car’s window was closed and it was a winter day is lying,” Subodh Chandra, an attorney for Rice's family, said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. “The Rice family has been cheated of a fair process yet again.”

The AP reported that "A state grand jury had declined to indict Loehmann, though he was later fired after it was discovered he was previously deemed 'unfit for duty.'"