Fred Loehmann, father of one of the two police officers who shot and killed Tamir Rice in Cleveland on November 22, says his son Tim Loehmann believes he had no choice but to shoot the 12-year-old African-American boy, the Northeast Ohio Media Group reported. 

"He’s living his life," Loehmann said of his son Tim, an eight-month rookie with the Cleveland police academy. The officer was with his partner, veteran Fred Garmback, when they sped up to a park gazebo where Rice was playing with an airsoft gun. In an exchange that lasted just two seconds, Loehmann jumped out of the car and shot and killed Rice as his partner Garmback pulled up to Rice. "I had no choice," the elder Loehmann recalls his son telling him.

Rice’s shooting death came amidst the final days of tense anticipation as the nation awaited a St. Louis grand jury’s decision not to indict Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown, a black teen.

A funeral for Rice is being held at 11am ET on Wednesday, NBC reported.