Two and a half years after Officer Timothy Loehmann shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in November 2014, the Cleveland Police Department announced he had been fired on Tuesday. Though a grand jury had cleared Loehmann of any wrongdoing in December 2015, the City of Cleveland filed several administrative charges against him, Officer Frank Garmback, and others involved in the matter. Tuesday’s news comes as a result of the investigation into these charges, which accused Loehmann of violating department rules when he applied to join the force.
While Loehmann’s termination apparently has nothing to do with the death of Rice (at least publicly), his partner Garmback is being reprimanded for it. According to Cleveland Director of Public Safety Michael McGrath, the latter will receive a 10-day suspension beginning Wednesday. What’s more, Garmback must attend “additional tactical training” due to his being “guilty of rules violations relating to tactics deployed that day” during the Rice shooting.
News of the department’s disciplinary actions against Loehmann and Garmback comes three months after Constance Hollinger, the 911 dispatcher who handled the emergency call, faced a 10-day suspension following an investigation into her role. In April of last year, the city settled with the Rice family for $6 million, half of which will be paid to the family’s estate this year.
(Via CNN)