City officials bring internal disciplinary charges against cops involved in shooting of Tamir Rice…

City officials bring internal disciplinary charges against officers involved in fatal shooting of Tamir Rice

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland officials on Friday levied internal disciplinary charges against the police officers involved in the fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.

The officers -- Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback -- will have pre-disciplinary hearings later this month, officials said. That will begin the process of determining how or if the officers will be disciplined.

The exact disciplinary charges were not discussed at a news conference on Friday, but will be released later in the evening, officials said.

The announcement happened approximately one year after a Cuyahoga County grand jury elected not to bring criminal charges against Leohmann and Garmback. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said he recommended the officers not be charged because, at the time, they believed Tamir was holding a real gun instead of an airsoft pellet gun with its orange tip removed.

It also comes after a Cuyahoga County Probate Court judge approved a $6 million settlement between the city and the boy's family. The settlement is likely the largest the city has ever paid for a police-shooting case.

The Justice Department is also conducting a review of the case to see either officer violated any federal civil-rights laws. However, such reviews rarely yield criminal charges.

The police department's Critical Incident Review Committee conducted a yearlong investigation that focused on the actions of Loehmann, Garmback, 911 call-taker Constance Hollinger and police dispatcher Beth Mandl.

Tamir had an airsoft pellet gun with its orange tip removed when Loehmann shot him Nov. 22, 2014 outside Cudell Recreation Center. Loehmann opened fire less than two seconds after Garmback drove their police cruiser within feet of a gazebo where Tamir had been standing.

Prosecutors said in 2015 that the shooting might have been avoided if police radio workers had relayed important information provided by a 911 caller. The caller reported that the person with the gun was "probably a juvenile" and that the gun might be fake.

But the officers were told to investigate a report of a "guy with a gun" scaring people outside the center.

Mandl told Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department investigators that she was not aware the 911 caller said the person might be a juvenile, or that the gun might be fake, according to investigative materials released last year. The details of what Hollinger relayed to Mandl are not clear.