Timothy Loehmann is a former police officer who has a reputation for being a ruthless cop who shoots innocent people. He was fired from the Cleveland Police Department in 2017 after he shot Tamir Rice. Now he is serving a prison term for murder.
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Timothy Loehmann shot Tamir Rice in 2014
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When 12-year-old Tamir Rice was killed by Cleveland police officer Timothy Loehmann in November 2014, it was a national story.
It brought attention to police brutality against Black people, a subject that sparked nationwide protests.
In December, the Obama administration’s Justice Department announced that it would not file federal criminal charges against Loehmann.
The department said there was insufficient evidence to prove that he committed any crimes. However, it notified attorneys for the Rice family that it was not going to reopen the case.
A retired FBI agent reviewed the shooting and found that it was justified. The department also stated that there was no evidence to indicate that Officer Loehmann was acting willfully.
Loehmann shot and killed Tamir within seconds of arriving on the scene. The boy was holding a pellet gun, which the officer thought was a fake.
While Loehmann fired twice, prosecutors were unable to find any evidence to support his claim that Tamir was reaching for a real gun. Instead, he believed Tamir had hands in his jacket pockets when he approached the patrol car.
Loehmann responded to a call about a man brandishing a weapon in a park. When asked to identify him, the caller told the dispatcher that the person could be a juvenile.
He also said that the gun was probably a fake. But the dispatcher never relayed this information to the responding officers.
He was fired from the Cleveland police department in 2017
Loehmann was fired from the Cleveland police department in 2017 after an investigation found that he lied on his application.
The internal affairs director said that he was fired because he omitted his employment history and failed to disclose that he was being forced out of another police department.
Timothy Loehmann was cleared of wrongdoing in the death of Tamir Rice, but his firing prompted protests against the use of deadly force by law enforcement.
In the wake of his firing, the city of Cleveland reached a $6 million settlement with the family of the 12-year-old boy.
After a three-panel judge upheld the firing, Loehmann filed an appeal with the state’s highest court.
His attorney argued that Loehmann was fired for a reason that was not relevant to the shooting. But the 8th District Court of Appeals ruled that the court did not have jurisdiction over the case.
The union that represents Cleveland police officers asked the Ohio Supreme Court to take up Loehmann’s case. However, the court rejected the police union’s appeal.
A group of police officers has urged the mayor of Cleveland to stop assaulting the intelligence of the community and give Loehmann a chance to resume his police career.
Mayor David Wilcox has announced a meeting to discuss Loehmann’s background, but says he has no plans to let Loehmann patrol the streets.
He passed through the application process with flying colors
Timothy Loehmann was sworn in as the lone police officer in Tioga Borough, Pennsylvania, on July 5th. A few days later, he resigned. This caused a firestorm among residents.
The town has been without a full-time police officer for nearly 18 months. Mayor David Wilcox says he was told by the council that the process was legitimate, though he was not aware of the applicant’s background.
While WENY News has a number of questions for Hazlett, he said that there would be no comment on the application process at next week’s council meeting. However, an emergency meeting could take place as early as Thursday.
The disciplinary letter from Independence cites an emotional breakdown on the gun range as the reason for his departure.
According to the memo, Loehmann’s lack of maturity and emotional instability prompted supervisors to determine that he was unfit for duty.
Loehmann was not criminally charged for the incident. In fact, Ohio’s grand jury declined to indict him on any charges.
He was cleared of all charges regarding the use of force, but he was found to have lied on his application.
Although Loehmann was hired on probation, the hiring process did not involve reviewing his previous employers’ personnel files.
Several hundred residents of the town have blasted Loehmann. One protester called him a “sketchy” hire. Others complained that the Tioga Borough Council concealed his background.
