Cleveland police involved in the fatal shooting of Tamir Rice failed to administer first aid to the 12-year-old, who was shot as he played with a toy gun on a playground, according to Newsnet5 Cleveland.
Deputy Cleveland Police Chief Ed Tomba said a detective and a FBI agent who were in the area responded to the call for help and began giving medical help to Rice three minutes and 49 seconds after he was shot by rookie Cleveland patrol Officer Timothy Loehmann, the report says.
The news station reports that officials refused to respond to queries about why officers Loehmann, 26, and Frank Garmback, 46, did not immediately administer first aid to the child. Dan Williams, a spokesman for Mayor Frank Jackson, said all of the officers’ actions are under investigation. He was unsure of the policy on how and when officers are required to provide medical assistance, but many area police officers receive first aid training, the news station reports. The two officers are on administrative leave.
At the request of Tamir’s parents, officials on Wednesday released a video of the shooting, which occurred last Saturday. Tamir was shot within seconds of the officers’ arrival at the playground.
Protests erupted after the shooting. Police were dispatched after callers to 911 reported seeing a youth brandishing a gun on a playground. One caller said that the gun might be fake and that the person with the weapon might be a child, but the dispatcher reportedly failed to relay that information to officers.
The shooting came just days before a grand jury on Monday decided against indicting Darren Wilson in the Aug. 9 shooting death of unarmed Michael Brown, 18, in Ferguson, Mo. The grand jury’s decision reignited violent protests around the nation over perceived excessive police violence against blacks.
Cleveland police hope to complete their investigation within 90 days.
Read more at Newsnet5 Cleveland.