Video Shows Conflicting Stories in Tamir Rice Case

Right after two Cleveland police officers fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice, they sat down for video interviews, which have just now—two and a half years later—been released to the public. The stories of the shooting told by Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback on the never-before-seen video vary in some ways from their written statements that were presented to a grand jury, which declined to indict the officers. Tamir Rice was killed on Nov. 22, 2014, outside the Cudell Recreation Center. Garmback and Loehmann willingly agreed to be interviewed on camera by internal-affairs officers and homicide detectives. In doing so, they invoked what are called Garrity rights, meaning they are protected from incriminating themselves in the statements to their employer, cleveland.com reports. Loehmann says in the video that he opened his car door when the cruiser was still about 30 yards away from Rice and that he presented his weapon and yelled “Put your hands in the air! Let me see your weapon! Freeze!” But in his written statement to the grand jury, he said he didn’t begin acting until the car had rolled to a stop. “The threat just became incredible,” Loehmann said in the video. “I had to make the decision fast because Frank and I were in immediate danger. If the subject did pull out the gun and point it towards us, I would have been shot and possibly my partner... We were basically sitting ducks.”