Officer who killed Tamir Rice fired from ranger position in West Virginia

SLATYFORK, W.Va. (AP) — The former Cleveland officer who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014 was fired from his post as a ranger at a West Virginia resort community, the fourth known time in seven years that he left a small department following public backlash.

Timothy Loehmann was fired on Friday from his position at the Snowshoe Resort Community District. The district’s board announced Loehmann’s firing in a statement following their emergency meeting.

Subodh Chandra, a Cleveland-based attorney for Rice’s family, said that “Loehmann’s determination to inflict himself on other people seems pathological. So does the craven poor judgment required by any public officials who hire him.”

Rice, who was Black, was playing with a pellet gun outside a recreation center in Cleveland on Nov. 22, 2014, when he was shot and killed by Loehmann seconds after the officer and his partner arrived. The white officers told investigators Loehmann had shouted three times at Rice to raise his hands.

The shooting sparked an outcry about police treatment of Black people and systemic racism, especially after a grand jury decided not to indict Loehmann or his partner.

Cleveland settled a lawsuit over Rice’s death for $6 million. The city fired Loehmann for having lied on his application to become a police officer.

Loehmann landed a part-time position with a police department in southeast Ohio in 2018. He withdrew his application days later after Rice’s mother and others criticized the hiring.

He was sworn in as the lone police officer in Tioga, Pennsylvania, in 2022, and also left amid backlash following his hiring.

Last year, he resigned from his position as a probationary officer in White Sulphur Springs City, West Virginia, and the police chief responsible for hiring him stepped down.