In Cleveland, Tamir Rice’s Family Asks Police to Release Video

By Carla Murphy Nov 26, 2014

The family of a 12-year-old boy who died Sunday morning from a police-inflicted gunshot wound to his stomach is asking the mayor and the police department to release video of the incident. What’s known of this still-developing story is that the tragedy unfolded Saturday afternoon when two officers responded to calls of a "man" pointing a gun at people in the park. The replica gun was a toy. There are reports that dispatch did not relay crucial information to the officer, however, that the gun "was probably fake" and that the guy was "probably a juvenile." The officer, on the force less than a year, fired twice and at least one bullet hit Tamir Rice, reports say.

Today at 1 p.m. EST, police "will provide additional updates and audio and visual evidence from the use of deadly force," according to a November 25 post on a Cleveland Division of Police Web siteThe medical examiner’s office, which ruled Rice’s death a homicide, has so far denied requests for more information, according to Northeast Ohio Media Group. The officer’s name has not yet been released.

Rice’s killing comes as Cleveland’s police department is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice to determine whether it regularly uses excessive force. Cleveland residents have been protesting both the Tamir Rice shooting and the Ferguson grand jury decision.