Cleveland: We'll Release Video of Shot 12-Year-Old

Audio in 12-year-old Tamir Rice's death, names of officers also to be released
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 26, 2014 7:25 AM CST
Cleveland: We'll Release Video of Shot 12-Year-Old
Demonstrators block Public Square on Nov. 25, 2014, in Cleveland during a protest over the weekend police shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.   (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Cleveland police said earlier this week they had no plans to release the surveillance video that shows Saturday's shooting of Tamir Rice, but those plans have apparently changed. A police department spokesman now says that the video documenting what happened between officers and 12-year-old Tamir, as well as audio evidence, will be made public today during the police chief's 1pm EST investigation update, the AP reports. The names of the officers involved will also be released. WKYC writes that the video "is said to clearly show" what went down between the boy and police as he sat in a park outside a rec center with a toy gun.

The city had previously indicated it wasn't going to release the video to be sensitive to Tamir's parents and the families of the officers, but Tamir's parents yesterday sent a letter to the mayor and police department in which they requested the complete video be released. Representatives from Tamir's family reportedly viewed the video on Monday, according to WKYC. "We feel the actions of the patrol officer who took our son's life must be made public," they write. (Read their entire letter in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.) The officers—who say Tamir reached for the airsoft-style gun in his waistband after they asked him to raise his hands—were put on a three-day administrative leave and are due to begin non-patrol duty today. City officials describe the officer who shot Tamir as distraught. (More Tamir Rice stories.)

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