12-year-old Tamir Rice was shot and killed by 26-year-old Timothy Loehmann in Cleveland, Ohio on November 22, 2014. Rice had been playing with an airsoft gun that lacked the orange tip, and neighbors in the area phoned the police. While the 9-1-1 caller did state that the weapon was probably fake, and also that he was a child, his warnings were ignored. Loehmann and his partner Frank Garmback responded to the dispatch call, approaching Rice as if he were armed. Loehmann shot and killed Rice, assuming the child was reaching for a gun.
It has almost been two years since the shooting, and now USA Today is reporting that Loehmann is back at work. Although he was not indicted in the Rice case, Loehmann was fired once an investigation found that he was deemed "unfit for duty" in the past. Bellaire is a tiny village along the Ohio River near the border of West Virginia, and Loehmann was hired as a part-time officer in the town. The village has a population of about 4,000 people. Police Chief Richard Flanagan announced that he hired Loehmann, and believed since he was never indicted for the Rice case he deserves a second chance.
