Documents detail police shooting of boy with pellet gun

CLEVELAND — Investigators have found no hard evidence a Cleveland police officer who fatally shot a 12-year-old boy carrying a pellet gun ordered him to raise his hands before opening fire.

Documents released Saturday by the prosecutor handling the racially charged case detail the moments before the brief, deadly encounter — and how the responding officers seemed almost shellshocked as Tamir Rice lay dying outside a rec center.

Cleveland police have said the officer who fired the fatal shot, Timothy Loehmann, told Tamir three times to put his hands up, then opened fire when the boy reached for the pellet gun tucked in his waistband. Grainy, choppy surveillance video shows Loehmann firing two shots within two seconds of his police cruiser skidding to a stop near the boy. Cuyahoga County sheriff’s detectives investigating the shooting wrote that, based on witness interviews, it was unclear if Loehmann shouted anything to Tamir from inside the cruiser before opening fire.

Tamir’s death is among a series of cases involving the use of deadly force on black suspects that sparked protests and outrage across the country.

Prosecutor Tim McGinty has said the case will be taken to grand jury to determine whether criminal charges should be filed against Loehmann or his partner, Frank Garmback.