A 12-Year-Old Boy Playing With Toy Gun Was Shot Dead By Cops

The boy was playing with the gun on the playground at Cudell Recreation Center, pulling it from his pants and pointing it at people, a man told a 911 dispatcher.

The toy’s orange safety tip had apparently been removed, and the caller said the boy was “scaring the s— out of everyone.” He also noted that the boy was “probably a juvenile” and that the gun was “probably fake,” but that message was reportedly never relayed to police.

When two Cleveland police officers arrived at the scene, a rookie officer saw the boy beneath a gazebo, picking up the gun and tucking it into his waistband. Police said the officer ordered him to raise his hands, but he raised his shirt instead — reaching for the gun. The officer fired twice. One shot hit the boy in the stomach.

Rice was rushed to MetroHealth Medical Center. Early Sunday, he died from his injuries, according to the medical examiner.

The two officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the officers are a first-year rookie and a 10-year department veteran.

“The preliminary information reveals that witnesses reported that a male was in the playground area of the center, waiving [sic] a gun and pointing it at people,” police said.

“Upon arrival on scene, officers located the suspect and advised him to raise his hands. The suspect did not comply with the officers’ orders and reached to his waistband for the gun. Shots were fired and the suspect was struck in the torso.”

Police said the Cuyahoga County prosecutor’s office is opening an investigation into the shooting.

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Detectives collected surveillance video from the recreation center that will be presented to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office. The evidence will be presented to a grand jury to determine whether the officer used excessive force.

“We are going to conduct our own investigation,” Kucharski told WKYC-TV.

“We are going to talk to witnesses. We will get all the 911 tapes, the radio dispatch records as to what was said to the police, what the officers knew, and then after we have conducted a thorough investigation we will make a determination after talking with the family with what we will proceed with legally at that point.”

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Kucharski said he wants to talk to witnesses himself and get more facts. "We're ultimately going to find out what happened," he said.

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“This is not a black-and-white issue. This is a right-and-wrong issue. This is not a racial issue. This is about people doing their jobs the right way,” he told WOIO-TV.

“Tragedies happen when you rush ahead of the facts,” Kucharski told the newspaper.

“The officer had no clue he was a 12-year-old. He had no clue it was a toy gun; he was kind of shocked. He was concentrating more on the hands than on the age. It’s not, ‘Go shoot a 12-year-old with a good fake gun.’ It’s not that scenario at all. This is a compassionate officer.”

“We have to assume every gun is real. When we don’t, that’s the day we don’t go home.”

“His mother is devastated,” Mr. Kucharski said. “We’d love to have the prayers of the community right now.”

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Kucharski told the Plain Dealer that Tamir’s family is devastated, his mother “inconsolable.”

“She woke up yesterday with a son,” he said. “Today, she woke up without a son.”