Grand jury: No charges in Tamir Rice killingBy John Bacon | USA TODAY | December 28, 2015, 6:23PM EST
A Cleveland grand jury declined Monday to bring charges in the death of Tamir Rice, a black youth with a toy gun who was shot by a white police officer 13 months ago.
"The outcome will not cheer anyone, nor should it," Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said. He blamed the shooting on a "perfect storm" of human error and miscommunication.
The grand jury was asked to examine the actions of rookie officer Timothy Loehmann and his training officer, Frank Garmback, who responded to a report about a man with a gun near a recreation center. A dispatcher did not tell them the caller thought it was probably a child with a fake gun.
Tamir, 12, likely meant to show the officers his gun was a toy that shot plastic pellets, but there was no way the officers could have known that when they confronted him on a snowy day in November 2014, McGinty said. He said the dispatcher's failure to provide the information about the "fake gun" was key to the case.
McGinty said he agreed with the grand jury decision.
"The actions of officers Garmback and Loehmann were not criminal," McGinty said. "The evidence did not indicate criminal conduct by police."
The family of Tamir blasted McGinty in a statement, saying it was "saddened and disappointed... but not surprised" by the grand jury decision.
“It has been clear for months now that Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty was abusing and manipulating the grand jury process to orchestrate a vote against indictment,” the family said in a statement released by their lawyers. “Even though video shows the police shooting Tamir in less than one second, Prosecutor McGinty hired so-called expert witnesses to try to exonerate the officers and tell the grand jury their conduct was reasonable and justified.”
Gov. John Kasich called Tamir's death a "heartbreaking tragedy." But he urged the community not to "give in to anger and frustration and let it divide us."
The case was one in a series of police shootings nationwide that prompted Black Lives Matter protests.
Loehmann has said he ordered Tamir to show them his hands. He said Tamir reached for his waistband and that he saw a gun and fired to protect himself and Garmback. McGinty said the evidence supported Loehmann's explanation.
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