Killing of Tamir Rice

Biography

Tamir E. Rice (2002 – November 23, 2014) was a twelve-year-old African American resident of Cleveland, Ohio, allegedly shot in the torso by police on November 22, 2014; he died of his wounds the next day. Police confronted Rice at a park near his home, after a man had called 911 to report "a guy" playing with a "pistol," which the caller stated was "probably fake," adding, "I don't think it's real."

Police were not informed that the caller had characterized the gun as "probably fake," according to Jeff Follmer, the president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association.

Deputy Chief of Cleveland Police Ed Tomba said that after police responded, the boy did not point the object or make any verbal threats toward police. He did apparently reach into his waistband and grasp the object after police told him to raise his hands.

Tamir died from his wounds as businesses in Ferguson, Missouri, boarded their windows, schools cancelled classes, and officials disseminated emergency plans, in anticipation of a grand jury decision of whether to charge a white police officer with fatally shooting another unarmed African American male. The President of the United States, Barack Obama, called for calm.