Officer’s shooting of boy, 12, ‘justified’

A white police officer in Cleveland, USA, was justified in fatally shooting a black 12-year-old boy holding a pellet gun, moments after pulling up beside him, according to two outside reviews conducted at the request of the prosecutor investigating the death.

A retired FBI agent and a Denver prosecutor both found the rookie patrolman who shot Tamir Rice exercised a reasonable use of force because he had reason to perceive the boy — described in a call to emergency services as a man waving and pointing a gun — as a serious threat.

The reports were released on Saturday night by the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office, which asked for the outside reviews as it presents evidence to a grand jury that will determine whether Timothy Loehmann will be charged over Tamir’s death last November.