The Ohio officer that killed Tamir Rice in 2014, Timothy Loehmann was hired in a small town in Pennsylvania. “Timothy Loehmann shot Tamir Rice at Cudell Recreation Center on Nov. 22, 2014, while the boy was playing was an airsoft pellet gun. He died the next day. Loehmann was a rookie officer. He was a passenger in a car driven by a veteran training officer, Frank Garmback,” the staff at Cleveland.com reported.

Tamir Rice was killed after two officers responded to a report of someone pointing a gun at people outside the recreation center. In 2015, a Cuyahoga County grand jury declined to indict the officers and federal prosecutors declined to bring the case to a grand jury. Cleveland settled a federal civil-rights lawsuit with Tamir Rice’s family for $6 million and fired Timothy Loehmann for lying on his application by not disclosing that the Independence Police Department dismissed him after determining he was unfit to serve. Why didn’t Cleveland run a background check to find out if the man was fit to be an officer?

On Tuesday, Loehmann was sworn into a small town of 700 people in Tioga, Pennsylvania. Mayor David Wilcox was surprised to find out that he was hired. So was Tamir’s family. Dozens protested. Wilcox told cleveland.com, “I was under the impression that there was a thorough background check into him, that he didn’t have any issues. I found it strange that someone would move here all the way from Cleveland, Ohio, for $18 an hour. But I heard that he wanted to get away from it all and come here to hunt and fish”.

Samaria Rice, Tamir’s mother said, “Whoever hired him made a big mistake. He shouldn’t be a police officer anywhere in the United States”. Subodh Chandra, the attorney for Tamir’s family and his estate, agreed and said, “Tioga officials apparently don’t care whether a police officer was considered mentally unfit for one department, lied on his application to another, rushed upon and slew a child, and then lied about calling out warnings to Tamir, when his window was rolled up on a winter’s day”.

“After being sworn in earlier this week, former Cleveland Police Officer Timothy Loehmann has withdrawn his application as the sole officer of Tioga, a small borough in Pennsylvania,” WTKR reports.  

Garrett Carr, a freelance writer for the Williamsport Sun Gazette, was the first to report the story and says that Loehmann has tried to obtain other jobs with other police departments. He attempted to gain a part-time position in Bellaire, in eastern Ohio in 2018. He left soon after he was hired.

More on this story can be found by clicking here: Tiny town hires the officer who killed Tamir Rice.

Minding Hearts is building advocacy and peer support groups in each state.  The groups are created to raise awareness, educate, and advocate for those that might not otherwise be heard. We are here for encouragement, education, and support. We are here to support families and develop resources that maintain family integrity. We look forward to your support. If you would rather become active by donating, then visit the donation page.