the family of a young boy slain last month by a police officer in cleveland, ohio filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on friday. the suit names the city, and two officers involved, a day after the u.s. department of justice (doj) found the city's police systematically uses excessive force against civilians.
tamir rice, 12, was tragically shot on november 22 while carrying a replica gun - which typically fires plastic pellets. officer timothy loehmann killed rice just two seconds after his police car pulled up beside rice at a park. frank garmback, the second officer named in the suit, was driving the car.
both officers are white. rice is black.
the officers confronted rice "in a surprise fashion and fired multiple shots at him without any adequate investigation," the suit said. rice was described as an african-american sixth grader who loves basketball. the lawsuit also noted loehmann had resigned from a suburban police department after a bad review which cited his immaturity and "dismal" handgun performance.
the doj report on thursday highlighted more than a dozen incidents to uncover a troubling pattern of departmental misconduct. u.s. attorney general eric holder launder the investigation: it revealed officers shooting at low-risk suspects, using chemical spray and tasers on handcuffed people and employing unreasonable force on the impaired or mentally ill.
jeffrey follmer, president of the cleveland police patrolman's association, said he hoped the federal investigation would result in more training and more officers on the street. ohio governor john kasich on friday announced the creation of a state task force to improve relations between communities and their police departments.
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