Medical examiners in Cleveland ruled the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice a homicide on Friday.
The Cuyahoga County medical examiner ruled the boy died as a result of a gunshot wound to the torso, after he was shot by a Cleveland police officer on a playground while holding a handgun replica.
Rice’s case is one of several recent deaths of black men and boys to fuel anti-police violence protests across the country.
A spokesperson for the Cuyahoga County prosecutor’s office said the ruling won’t affect the prosecutors’ next steps. The ruling is a judgment on the manner of death, and not on the question of whether the shooting was justified.
“Today’s news is just one step in the investigatory process,” said Joe Frolik, a spokesperson for prosecutor Timothy McGinty’s office. “We’ll review the file, we may do additional investigation, and then we will present all the evidence to a grand jury.”
The medical examiner’s report detailed the circumstances of Rice’s death, saying doctors attempted to save the child, but that both a surgery and drug treatments had failed by the early morning the day after he was shot. The medical examiner blamed major vessel damage, intestinal and pelvic injuries as a result of being shot in the abdomen.
Rice was shot by officer Timothy Loehmann at about 3.30pm on 22 November at a local recreation center.
Previous reports say a caller to 911 reported “a guy” with a “probably fake” gun in the park. That information was never transmitted to Loehmann, who shot Rice in the gut seconds after arriving on the scene, a response captured on video.
According to the report, Rice was transported to the MetroHealth System hospital in Cleveland, where doctors administered drugs and performed surgery on Rice. However, he didn’t respond to the treatment and was pronounced dead at 12.54am.
The report, or officials’ response, could renew protesters’ aim to bring accountability to police departments across the country. Demonstrations have taken place across the country since this summer, when unarmed black teenager Michael Brown was shot by a Ferguson police officer, and again after 43-year-old Eric Garner died after being placed in a police chokehold in New York. Grand juries in both states refused to indict officers.
Rice’s family has called for Loehmann to be prosecuted, and is suing the city.
Loehmann has been on paid leave since the shooting. He was previously judged unfit for duty at another department.
