CLEVELAND -- A grand jury on Monday declined to indict a white rookie police officer or his partner in the killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, a black child who was shot while playing with what turned out to be a pellet gun.
Cuyahoga County prosecutor Tim McGinty said it was "indisputable" that the boy was drawing the airsoft gun from his waistband when he was gunned down. McGinty said Tamir was trying to either hand it over to police or show them it wasn't a real weapon, but the officer and his partner had no way of knowing that.
"Simply put, given this perfect storm of human error, mistakes and miscommunications by all involved that day, the evidence did not indicate criminal conduct by police," McGinty said. He said patrolman Timothy Loehmann was justified in opening fire: "He had reason to fear for his life."
In a statement, Tamir's family said it was "saddened and disappointed by this outcome -- but not surprised." It accused the prosecutor of "abusing and manipulating the grand jury process to orchestrate a vote against indictment."
Among other things, the family charged that McGinty improperly hired use of-force experts to tell the grand jury that Loehmann's actions were reasonable.
The family renewed its request for the U.S. Justice Department to step in and conduct "a real investigation." Federal prosecutors in Cleveland noted Monday that a civil-rights investigation into the shooting is already underway.
Tamir's family echoed the prosecutor, however, in urging those disappointed to express themselves "peacefully and democratically." Barricades were set up outside a Cleveland courthouse in case of protests, and about two dozen people gathered in the rain at the recreation center where Tamir was shot.
A grainy surveillance-camera video of the boy's November 2014 shooting provoked anger nationally, and along with other killings of black people by police in places such as Ferguson, Mo., and New York City, it helped fuel the Black Lives Matter movement.
There was no immediate comment from Loehmann or his partner.
Tamir was shot by Loehmann within two seconds of the officer's police cruiser skidding to a stop near the boy. Loehmann and his white training partner, Frank Garmback, were responding to a 911 call about a "guy" waving a gun and pointing it at people.
Tamir was carrying a borrowed airsoft gun that looks like an actual firearm but shoots nonlethal plastic pellets. It was missing the orange tip that is supposed to show that it is not a real weapon.
The grand jury had been hearing evidence and testimony since mid-October.
In detailing the decision not to bring charges, McGinty said police radio personnel contributed to the tragedy by failing to pass along the "all-important fact" that the 911 caller said the gunman was probably a youth and that the gun probably wasn't real.
"There have been lessons learned already. It should never happen again, and the city has taken steps so it doesn't," McGinty said.
The Cleveland Division of Police plans to put dashboard cameras in every car, and all patrol officers have been equipped with body cameras since September. Also, the police reached a settlement with the Justice Department earlier this year to overhaul policies on the use of force. The settlement was prompted largely by a car chase that ended with the killing of a couple in a 137-shot barrage of police gunfire.
Mayor Frank Jackson said the city and Police Department will conduct an internal review that could result in disciplinary action against the two officers, who have been taken off street duty since the shooting.
In addition, Tamir's family has filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against the two officers and the city.
McGinty said it was a "tough conversation" with Tamir's mother when she was told there would be no charges. "She was broken up, and it was very hard," the prosecutor said.
Loehmann opened fire from a distance estimated at 4½ to 7 feet, getting off two shots and missing with one of them.
"With his hands pulling the gun out and his elbow coming up, I knew it was a gun and it was coming out. I saw the weapon in his hands coming out of his waistband and the threat to my partner and myself was real and active," Loehmann told investigators.
Steve Loomis, the head of Cleveland's police union, said the organization is pleased with the grand jury's finding but said the decision "is no cause for celebration, and there will be none."
McGinty urged those who disagree with the grand jury decision to react peacefully and said, "It is time for the community and all of us to start to heal."
Information for this article was contributed by Mitch Stacy, Kantele Franko, Julie Carr Smyth and Dan Sewell of The Associated Press.
A Section on 12/29/2015