Tamir Rice: Location & Identity
Cleveland.com parsed the five expert reports released by the Cuyahoga County County Prosecuting Attorney's Office and attorneys for the Tamir Rice family to examine four of the key issues in the shooting.
(Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Five expert reports, enhanced surveillance video and an exhaustive examination of the speed of the police car carrying the officer who killed Tamir Rice were released in recent weeks.
Three experts hired by Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty reached similar conclusions that the November 2014 shooting was "reasonable."
However, two reports released last week by the legal team representing Tamir's family in a pending lawsuit against the officers and the department reached different conclusions, calling the shooting "unreasonable."
The grand jury that will decided whether to pursue charges against officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback have seen McGinty's reports. The prosecutor said he plans to present the reports provided by attorneys for Tamir's family in the coming weeks.
In an effort to illustrate the varying interpretations of the same shooting, cleveland.com parsed the reports and compiled the experts' analysis of four key moments of the shooting.
Reports were authored by:
- S. Lamar Sims, Denver's senior chief deputy district attorney
- Kimberly Crawford, retired FBI agent and associate professor of criminal justice at Northern Virginia Community College
- W. Ken Katsaris, a certified Florida law enforcement officer, instructor and consultant
- Jeffrey J. Noble, former deputy chief of the Irvine (California) Police Department
- Roger A. Clark, former lieutenant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Navigating to the various sections: Approach | Hand Movement | Command | Location & Identity
"[Garmback] approached and stopped in such a fashion that officer Loehmann was in a position of great peril -- he was within feet of a gunman who had stood up, was approaching the police car and reaching toward his waistband. The officers did not create the violent situation - they were responding to a situation fraught with the potential for violence to citizens." S. Lamar Sims
"It could be argued that the officers enhanced that risk by entering the park and stopping their vehicle so close to a potentially armed subject. However, this type of 'armchair quarterbacking' has no place in determining the reasonableness of an officer's use of force." Kimberly Crawford
"Officer Garmback was driving at speeds between 13 and 17 miles per hour. It appears that the officers were heading for the area of the swings, where the 'guy with the gun' was last reported being seen. However, the described subject they were looking for (Rice) was apparently spotted, not at the swings, but instead at the gazebo area, which is not far from the swings. It also appears that this presence at the gazebo was not expected, causing officer Garmback to apply the brakes suddenly and hard, skidding for 40 feet and 10 inches. This fact is relevant to an assessment of the tactical deployment decision of the vehicle stop being in close proximity to the identified subject of the 'guy with a gun' dispatch call. ...The vehicle stops position was not by choice, but by necessity." W. Ken Katsaris
"During their approach to the scene, officers Loehmann and Garmback had to drive past the swings, which were vacant, where the 911 caller had first reported seeing someone with a gun, then continue on to the gazebo. The officers had a clear range of sight to the gazebo and should have seen Tamir in the gazebo.
"Officers are trained to approach similar situations carefully, assess it, and try to de-escalate it. Here, officers Loehmann and Garmback did the opposite. Officer Garmback jumped the curb, drove through the park at a reckless speed, stopped right beside Tamir, and officer Loehmann jumped out shooting. It is clear that they saw, or should have seen, Tamir from the moment they reached the swings (or even earlier), so they had plenty of time to stop their car sooner and assess the situation from a position of cover and safety.
"If Loehmann and Garmback had followed proper police practices and were at a safe distance, with cover, and communicating with Tamir, then they would have been able to assess whether or not he was actually reaching for a gun and that he was actually a 12-year-old boy with a toy gun." Roger A. Clark
"Reasonable police officers responding to a man-with-a-gun call would have stopped their vehicle prior to entering the park to visually survey the area to avoid driving upon a subject who may be armed. This serves not only to protect the officers, but also serves to protect others who may be in the area and it provides both time and distance for the officers to evaluate the situation and develop a plan.
"Their actions were counter to virtually all police training that counsels officers to develop a plan prior to confronting a subject, to take their time and proceed cautiously and slowly in attempting to resolve a situation, to remain calm, to remain at a safe distance from a subject, to wait for backup when possible, and to employ tactics focused on de-escalation." Jeffrey J. Noble
"The patrol car comes into the frame at 3:30:19. As the police car comes to a stop, Rice's hands drop to his waistband area...Rice's hands continue to move toward his waistband, however the video is grainy and it is unclear -- from the video -- whether Rice reaches for his gun.
"[Garmback] approached and stopped in such fashion that Officer Loehmann was in a position of great peril - he was within feet of a gunman who had stood up, was approaching the police car and reaching toward his waistband. The officers did not create the violent situation - they were responding to a situation fraught with the potential for violence to citizens." S. Lamar Sims
"Video surveillance at the park shows Officer Loehmann exiting the vehicle as the individual suspected to be armed reaches toward his right side waist and lifts his jacket.
"Following universal training and procedures, Officer Loehmann's attention would be focused on Rice's hands as they moved toward his waistband and lifted his jacket. Unquestionably, the actions of Rice could reasonably be perceived as a serious threat to Officer Loehmann. Waiting to see if Rice came out with a firearm would be contrary to action versus reaction training." Kimberly Crawford
"The trained threat assessment of the focused observations of the movements of the reported armed person, especially the hand movements, and the movements toward the waist -- an obvious 'high risk' area for being a known gun concealment area -- combined with the reported, and dispatched, information that the 'guy with the gun,' '(He) keeps pulling a gun out of his pants, and pointing it at people,' allows less than a split second decision to apply deadly force, reasonably." W. Ken Katsaris
"The video clearly documents that Tamir had nothing in his hands when officers Loehmann and Garmback observed him. And the record is uncontested that Tamir was not acting aggressively nor was he threatening or endangering anyone at that time. Most importantly, Tamir was not holding the toy gun (or any other object) in his hands when officers Loehmann and Garmback arrived. It is absolutely critical to emphasize that no weapon was visible to either officer Loehmann or officer Garmback upon their arrival on the scene.
"In fact, the video is extremely unclear and, if officers Loehmann and Garmback had followed proper police practices and were at a safe distance, with cover, and communicating with Tamir, then they would have been able to assess whether or not he was actually reaching for a gun and that he was actually a 12 year old boy with a toy gun." Roger A. Clark
"While it does appear his left arm moves toward his stomach, the video is not clear whether or not he lifts his jacket, or if he is making any type of motion with his right hand. Among the limitations of videos of this nature is that it does not provide depth perception as one would see in person. So while it may appear that Tamir's left arm moved toward his stomach it is not clear if that arm was near his body or away from it." Jeffrey J. Noble
S. Lamar Sims did not address commands.
"There is some dispute regarding whether Officer Loehmann issued any warnings before he discharged his weapon. While the issuance of warnings (or the lack thereof) may be considered during a policy or tactical review, it is insignificant to this constitutional review." Kimberly Crawford
"I realize there is some question yet to be answered, if it even could be conclusively determined, that a warning, or more warning should be given of the potential before the use of deadly force. However, the immediacy of the threat, the amount of definitive description of the armed subject, and the hand movement toward the already identified location of "the gun," makes any, or further warning notice, against the backdrop of the obvious uniformed police presence, and information known, totally irrelevant and surely not 'feasible.'" W. Ken Katsaris
"They had time to assess the situation, to give commands, to try to de-escalate.
"There was no time in those 1.7 seconds for Officers Loehmann or Garmback to have issued any intelligible commands to Tamir, much less for Tamir to respond to any commands.
"Officers are also taught that deadly force is justified as a 'last resort only' to be used in the direst of circumstances when all other reasonable measures are unavailable or have been exhausted. A warning must be given when possible before deadly force is used." Roger A. Clark
"In fact, a review of the video provides evidence that the shooting was presumptively unreasonable in that the shooting occurred within 1.7 seconds with no possibility of commands from the officer to the child.
"In this matter, the credibility of officer Loehmann is also questionable due to his alleged statements at the scene to other officers that he gave Tamir commands, yet the video and the fact the patrol car's windows were rolled up call into question such claims." Jeffrey J. Noble
"In light of the foregoing, the only relevant facts are those possessed by officer Loehmann at the moment he fired his weapon. At that time, officer Loehmann was aware that a 911 caller had reported a man in the park with a gun that he kept pulling from his pants. When he arrived on the scene, officer Loehmann observed an individual matching the description provided by the 911 caller reach to his right side near his waist and pull up his jacket. Officer Loehmann, who had exited his vehicle, was within 7 feet of the individual and without cover when he made the decision to use deadly force. The after acquired information - that the individual was twelve-years-old, and the weapon in question was an "airsoft gun"- is not relevant to a constitutional review of officer Loehmann's actions. Similarly, the 911 caller's uncommunicated speculations that the individual might be a minor and the weapon was "probably fake" cannot be considered." S. Lamar Sims
Kimberly Crawford did not address Tamir's location.
"It appears that the officers were heading for the area of the swings, where the 'guy with the gun' was last reported being seen. However, the described subject they were looking for (Rice) was apparently spotted, not at the swings, but instead at the Gazebo area, which is not far from the swings. It also appears that this presence at the Gazebo was not expected, causing Officer Garmback to apply the brakes suddenly, and hard, skidding for forty (40') feet, and ten (1 0") inches. This fact is relevant to an assessment of the tactical deployment decision of the vehicle stop being in close proximity to the identified subject of the 'guy with a gun' dispatch call." W. Ken Katsaris
"Tamir was not sitting by the swings as in the 911 call, but the gazebo is close enough officers would have had a clear line of sight and seen him before they got to the swings. Tamir was not wearing distinctive clothing that would identify him as the suspect. He was wearing a camouflage hat and a gray shirt with black sleeves." Roger Clark
Jeffery J. Noble did not address Tamir's location.