The Los Angeles Post
California & Local U.S. World Business Lifestyle
Today: December 26, 2024
Today: December 26, 2024

Officer who killed Tamir Rice leaves new job in West Virginia

Tamir Rice-Officer Hired
July 02, 2024
JOHN RABY - AP

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The former Cleveland officer who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014 has resigned from a police force in West Virginia, the third time in six years he left a small department amid backlash shortly after he had been hired.

White Sulphur Springs City officials said Timothy Loehmann resigned Monday afternoon as a probationary officer.

In a statement issued to WVVA-TV , Mayor Kathy Glover said Loehmann had been hired at the recommendation of White Sulphur Springs Police Chief D.S. Teubert.

“Since this is an employment matter, I will have no further comment,” Glover said.

It wasn’t immediately clear how long Loehmann had been on the force. A call to Teubert’s office went unanswered. The Associated Press left telephone messages Tuesday for Glover and for Subodh Chandra, a Cleveland- based attorney for Rice’s family. A phone number for Loehmann could not be located and an attorney who formerly represented him wasn't immediately available to comment.

After the hiring in West Virginia, Chandra told Cleveland station WEWS-TV last week that Loehmann “should never be entrusted with a badge and gun.”

White Sulphur Springs is home to the posh Greenbrier resort, owned by Republican Gov. Jim Justice in southeastern West Virginia along the Virginia border.

Rice, who was Black, was playing with a pellet gun outside a recreation center in Cleveland on Nov. 22, 2014, when he was shot and killed by Loehmann seconds after Loehmann and his partner arrived. The officers, who are white, told investigators Loehmann had shouted three times at Tamir to raise his hands.

The shooting sparked community protests about police treatment of Black people, especially after a grand jury decided not to indict Loehmann or his partner.

Cleveland settled a lawsuit over Tamir’s death for $6 million, and the city ultimately fired Loehmann for having lied on his application to become a police officer.

Loehmann later landed a part-time position with a police department in the southeast Ohio village of Bellaire in October 2018 but withdrew his application days later after Tamir’s mother, Samaria, and others criticized the hiring.

In July 2022, he was sworn in as the lone police officer in Tioga — a community of about 600 in rural north-central Pennsylvania, about 300 miles (480 kilometers) from Cleveland — but left without having worked a single shift amid backlash and media coverage over his hiring.

Related

Crime|Travel|US

3 shot and 1 stabbed at Phoenix airport in apparent family dispute on Christmas night, officials say

3 shot and 1 stabbed at Phoenix airport in apparent family dispute on Christmas night, officials say

3 shot and 1 stabbed at Phoenix airport in apparent family dispute on Christmas night, officials say
Asia|Crime|Europe|MidEast|Travel|World

Azerbaijan observes day of mourning for air crash victims as speculation mounts about its cause

Azerbaijan is observing a nationwide day of mourning for the victims of the air crash that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured as speculation mounted about a possible cause of the crash that remained unknown

Azerbaijan observes day of mourning for air crash victims as speculation mounts about its cause
Crime|Europe|World

Pope opens special 'Holy Door' for Catholic Jubilee at Rome prison

Pope Francis made a visit on Thursday to one of the largest prison complexes in Italy, opening a special "Holy Door" for the 2025 Catholic Holy Year, in what the

Pope opens special 'Holy Door' for Catholic Jubilee at Rome prison
Crime|MidEast|Political|World

At least 14 security personnel killed in ‘ambush’ by former Assad forces, new Syrian authorities say

At least 14 security personnel killed in ‘ambush’ by former Assad forces, new Syrian authorities say

At least 14 security personnel killed in ‘ambush’ by former Assad forces, new Syrian authorities say
Share This

Popular

Crime|Travel|US

Christmas shooting at Phoenix airport leaves 3 people wounded

Christmas shooting at Phoenix airport leaves 3 people wounded
Business|Crime|Finance|US

FTX executives shave serious time off their sentences

FTX executives shave serious time off their sentences
Crime|Europe|Political|World

Estonian government to meet as investigators probe interruption of undersea cable

Estonian government to meet as investigators probe interruption of undersea cable
Asia|Crime|Political

Pakistan military court sentences 60 civilians up to 10 years in prison

Pakistan military court sentences 60 civilians up to 10 years in prison