VIDEO: Boy Brandishing Pistol Replica Killed by Cleveland Officer
A 12-year-old boy has been shot dead by police in Cleveland after brandishing what turned out to be a replica gun.
Tamir Rice died from his wounds on Sunday, a day after officers responded to an emergency call about someone waving a “probably fake” gun in a playground.
Deputy Chief Ed Tomba said one officer fired twice after the boy pulled the fake weapon — which was lacking the orange safety indicator usually found on the muzzle — from his waistband but had not pointed it at police, Huffington Post reports.
ABC 5 Cleveland reports the officers were not told the age of the suspect or the fact the caller said the gun might be fake.
In dispatch audio recorded between 3:24 p.m. and 3:34 p.m., the dispatcher never told officers that the gun may be fake or that the suspect was a juvenile.
“I’ve got a code 1, if anybody can break at Cudell. In the park by the youth center, there’s supposed to be a male sitting on the swings, pointing a gun at people," said a dispatcher in recordings obtained by newsnet5.com.
