WASHINGTON, November 24 (Sputnik) — Police officials in Cleveland, state of Ohio are reviewing video evidence and further investigating the crime scene where a teenager was fatally shot by police over the weekend, law enforcement officials announced Monday.
"Our mandate is to complete the investigation within 90 days and have it in the hands of the prosecutor’s office for further review,” Deputy Police Chief Ed Tomba said at a press conference. “Right now we just released the video… to the family's representatives… and we’re going to definitely take our lead from the family," Tomba added.
On Saturday, police responded to a 911 report that a child was waving a gun around at the Cudell Recreation Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old African-American boy, was then shot by a police officer for carrying a BB gun in public, and later died at a local medical center on Sunday.
The deputy police chief added that the authorities have not yet taken a formal statement from the officer and still needed Rice's family to review the crime scene footage before it is made public. He also added that the local law enforcement was working with the prosecutor's office to complete the investigation within the 90-day mandate.
When asked how close the officer had fired at Rice, the deputy chief said that the footage showed that the gunshot was less than 10 feet, but would not provide any further details.
"The tape is very clear on what took place… but the tape needs to be in hands [of family and investigators]. There needs to be other measurements taken, there needs to be scientific review of that before… it goes out anywhere," Tomba said.
Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams told reporters during the press conference that the officers involved in that situation are “currently on administrative leave.”
“During this time the investigation will continue, we will continue to look at evidence – both video evidence and forensic evidence, we will continue to conduct interview of people who may have been witnesses and who are witnesses to this event," Williams stated.
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson said that Cleveland is "always prepared for whatever comes," when asked if the state was ready to deal with the possibility of a public unrest in response to Rice's death.
Rice's death follows the nationwide rallies that took place across the country, following two similar incidents earlier this year. On August 9, Michael Brown, an African-American teenager was shot dead by white police officer Darren Wilson from his vehicle. Two months following the Brown's death, 18-year-old African-American Vonderrit Myers was shot dead by an off-duty white police officer in the Shaw neighborhood in St. Louis County.
