A 12-year-old boy has been shot dead by police in the US after he was spotted playing with a fake gun in the park.
Tamir Rice was shot twice Image credit: Facebook
Tamir Rice died of his wounds yesterday in hospital after being shot twice in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday.
A concerned man, who was saw the boy at a playground next to a recreation center Saturday afternoon, called 911 around 3:30pm and told the dispatcher: 'I'm sitting in the park…there's a guy here with a pistol… you know, it's probably fake, but he's pointing it at everybody.
'The guy keeps pulling it in and out…it's probably fake, but he's scaring the s*** out of people.
'I don't know if it's real or not.'
The 911 responder twice asked whether the boy was black or white before dispatching officers.
When police arrived at the Cudell Recreation Center park, they told Tamir to raise his hands, deputy police chief Ed Tomba said.
When he allegedly took the replica gun from his waistband, an officer fired twice despite the fact the suspected weapon was not pointed at them and no threats were made.
After the shooting he was taken to MetroHealth Medical Center in serious condition, but his condition deteriorated throughout the night and he died early Sunday.
Deputy Chief of Field Operations Ed Tomba described the incident as 'very, very tragic', saying that the child did not threaten the officer verbally or physically.
'When an officer gives a command, we expect it to be followed,' Mr Tomba said. 'The way it looks like right now, it wasn't followed, but we're going to continue our investigation.'
Tamir's family hired attorney Tim Kucharski to represent them in the upcoming investigation.
Kucharski, of the law firm Richardson & Kucharski told WKYC: 'Apparently, listening to the 911 call...the caller halfway across the part recognized that this was a toy gun. I'm not sure how police weren't able to make that same decision.'
'We're going to conduct our own parallel investigation. I understand what police are putting out there, I cannot confirm or deny those facts. The family is absolutely is devastated. He was a wonderful young man. Our own investigation will begin as early as tomorrow.'
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