The police officer who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014 resigned from the police force in a rural town in Pennsylvania just two days after he was hired, according to Reuters.
Timothy Loehmann was sworn in to the Tioga Borough Police Department at a council meeting on Tuesday, July 5th. He was suppose to serve as the sole police officer in Tioga, a town of about 700 residents.
Local media was told at the time that the town was hiring an officer by the name of Timothy Lochmann. Council President Steve Hazlett clarified on Facebook on Wednesday that the officer hired was Loehmann which led to protest outside the Tioga Borough building.
On Thursday an unsigned statement posted on the town’s website said Loehmann had withdrawn his application.
“Effective this morning Timothy Loehmann has officially withdrawn his application for Tioga Borough Police Officer,” the statements reads.
Tioga Borough Mayor David Wilcox told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that though he oversees the police department, he was not allowed to see the applications for the officer position in Tioga Borough and had no clue who he was when he swore him in Tuesday evening.
“I was under the impression that there was a thorough background check into him, that he didn’t have any issues,” Wilcox said. “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.”
Loehmann was a Cleveland Division of Police (CDP) officer in 2014 when he shot and killed Rice, 12, as he played with a toy gun on the playground.
A grand jury cleared Loehmann of any wrongdoing in 2015. The city paid $6 million to the Rice family to settle a civil rights lawsuit filed in April 2016, according to Reuters.
In December 2020, the United States Department of Justice closed its civil rights investigation into the shooting. The DOJ declined to charge Loehmann and the other CDP officer, Frank Garmback due to insufficient evidence.
