Grand Jury Declines To Indict Cops In Shooting Of 12-Year Old
The prosecutor in Cleveland says a ``perfect storm of human error'' led to the death of Tamir Rice, a black youngster who was holding what turned out to be a pellet gun when he was shot by police.
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty announced Monday that a grand jury has declined to indict a rookie Cleveland police officer or his partner for their roles in the November 2014 shooting.
McGinty says newly enhanced video shows that it is ``indisputable'' that Tamir was removing his gun from his waistband when he was shot.
He says it's almost certain that Tamir intended to hand it over to the officers or to show them that it wasn't a real gun. But he says there's no way the officers could have known that.
Family members of 12-year-old Tamir Rice say they're disappointed but not surprised that a grand jury declined to indict the officer who fatally shot him outside a Cleveland recreation center last year.
In a statement released Monday through a lawyer, the family accuses Prosecutor Tim McGinty of ``abusing and manipulating the grand jury process to orchestrate a vote against indictment.'' The family says the prosecutor's handling of the process compounded their grief.
McGinty says he put the case before a grand jury so the evidence would be reviewed not only by a prosecutor but also by a panel of citizens who would make the final call on whether charges were merited.
Tamir was carrying a pellet gun when he was shot. (Associated Press)