Cop who fatally shot Tamir Rice hired by Ohio police department

Timothy Loehmann, the former Cleveland police officer who came under public scrutiny after he fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014, has reportedly been hired by another police department in Ohio.

Bellaire Police Chief Richard “Dick” Flanagan confirmed to The Times Leader that his police department hired Loehmann as one of two new part-time police officers on Friday. 

Loehmann told the local outlet he believes Loehmann deserves a second chance and said he had no reservations about hiring him. 

“He was cleared of any and all wrongdoing,” the police chief said of Loehmann. “He was never charged. It’s over and done with.”

{mosads}Rice, who was black, was fatally shot by Loehmann while he was playing outside a recreation center with a pellet gun in 2014. 

A grand jury cleared Loehmann, who is white, of any wrongdoing in 2015, a decision that prompted public outrage over how police deal with black communities.

Though Loehmann was not fired over the young boy’s death, he was let go from the Cleveland Police Department in 2017 after he allegedly omitted information from his employment application.