Lawyer again calls for firings over slaying of Tamir Rice

CLEVELAND – An attorney is renewing his call for the firing of the two white Cleveland police officers involved in the shooting of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old black boy killed while playing with a pellet gun outside a city recreation center.

Rice family attorney Subodh Chandra sent a letter Tuesday to Police Chief Calvin Williams questioning why the officers haven’t been fired or disciplined more than two years after Patrolman Timothy Loehmann shot Tamir in November 2014. Tamir was shot within seconds of a cruiser driven by Patrolman Frank Garmback skidding to a stop near Tamir.

Cleveland’s safety director, not the police chief, decides whether city officers should be fired. Loehmann and Garmback remain on restricted duty.

A city spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.