Posted on November 30, 2015

Prosecutor Releases Enhanced Surveillance Images of Tamir Rice Shooting

Brandon Blackwell, Cleveland, November 29, 2015

Enhanced surveillance images of the Tamir Rice shooting offer a closer look at what appears to be the boy walking toward a Cleveland police cruiser, reaching for his waist and lifting his arm and shoulder in the split-second before a police officer shot him.

The images are among 326 released Saturday night by Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty that offer frame-by-frame analysis of what two surveillance cameras captured during the Nov. 22, 2014 shooting outside the Cudell Recreation Center.

The images released Saturday were enhanced by Grant Fredericks of Forensic Video Solutions in Spokane, Washington. Fredericks used metadata from the surveillance video to establish the timeline of events leading to Tamir’s shooting. {snip}

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In one frame, Tamir, who had a plastic replica gun tucked into his waistband, stands up from a bench under the recreation center’s gazebo as a police cruiser drives toward him.

It is unclear if he sees the cruiser, which would come to a stop in front of him about 10 seconds later.

About four seconds after standing up, Tamir puts his hands together in front of his stomach.  In the next second, Tamir walks toward the police cruiser as it reaches the gazebo.

As the nose of the cruiser moves past Tamir, the boy moves his right arm toward his waist.

In the next frame, Tamir walks toward the moving cruiser and continues moving his right arm toward his waist. The cruiser’s passenger door opens.

The next frame shows Tamir lift his right shoulder and arm. The cruiser remains in motion as officer Timothy Loehmann springs from the passenger seat.

A frame later, Loehmann shoots Tamir.

The images appear to support arguments made in a trio of expert reports made public by the prosecutor’s office beginning in October. In each report, the experts determined that it was reasonable for Loehmann to believe that Tamir was armed with a gun, despite the fact that the initial 911 caller said that the boy was likely a juvenile and that the gun he had was “probably fake.”

That information was never relayed to the responding officers.

“This decision, in my opinion, was clearly objectively reasonable, given the totality of the circumstances,”  certified Florida law enforcement officer, instructor and consultant W. Ken Katsaris wrote in his analysis released last month.

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The grand jury began hearing evidence in the case in October. Tamir’s family, their lawyers, local clergy and activists from around the country have demanded McGinty remove himself from the case.

They have accused him of dragging his feet and working to exonerate the police officers involved in the shooting.

McGinty drew criticism after a statement made to a TV report last month where he said that attorneys for Tamir’s family members have “economic motives” in calling for his removal.

McGinty has refused to step down.

He has taken flak for releasing reports from hired experts who concluded that the officers involved in the shooting acted reasonably.

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[Editor’s Note: The images are available at the original article link below.]