The police officer who killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice and was hired as the sole officer in a small Pennsylvania town earlier this week has now quit, it emerged on Thursday.
Following widespread outrage at Timothy Loehmann’s hiring, the former Cleveland police officer withdrew his application from the Tiago borough without working a shift for the town.
“The community spoke. They got their feelings out, and we listened to them and we’re going to react to it and that will be that,” said the Tiago borough council president, Steve Hazlett, to the Associated Press in a phone interview. “We thank the community for stepping forward and letting their voices be heard.”
Loehmann, who killed Tamir in 2014, was recently hired as the only police officer of Tioga, a township of about 700 people located in northern Pennsylvania, prompting outrage from local residents, the Williamsport Sun-Gazette first reported.
He was sworn in on Tuesday on a probationary basis, news of which prompted a rally on Wednesday against his appointment, and criticism from Tamir’s family.
Loehmann was fired from the Cleveland police department in 2017 after fatally shooting Tamir. The boy was playing in a local park with a toy pellet gun when Loehmann shot him almost immediately after arriving to the scene.
Loehmann was not fired for killing Tamir, but for providing inaccurate details on his job application to the department. Loehmann was never indicted for the shooting.
Samaria Rice, the mother of Tamir Rice, has publicly condemned Loehmann’s hiring in Tioga, telling the Washington Post that Loehmann’s employment was “a big mistake”.
“He shouldn’t be a police officer anywhere in the United States,” said Rice, noting that she was angered and concerned about Loehmann’s presence in the Tioga community. “I’m actually shocked that anybody would give him a job knowing what he has done to my family.”
Tioga’s mayor, David Wilcox, confirmed that Loehmann had been hired by the council, adding that he was not aware of Loehmann’s background when he sat in on his interview for the position, reported News 5 Cleveland.
Wilcox also claimed that the borough council did not allow him to see Loehmann’s résumé and that the borough council was in charge of the hiring and firing of police officers.
Loehmann was unanimously sworn in on Tuesday by Tioga’s borough council, hired for $18 an hour. He was hired under a 90-day probationary period with a planned promotion to chief, said Wilcox.
An announcement about Loehmann’s hiring was later posted by Hazlett, with the council president writing: “Timothy Loehmann is your new Tioga police officer,” reported the Post.
The social media post attracted mass outrage, with residents protesting against Loehmann’s hiring in front of the Tioga borough office on Wednesday, reported the Gazette.
Ben Shutter, a Tioga resident, was one of the people who participated in Wednesday’s protest rally: “I just feel like the town should know what’s going on with an officer that was sworn in yesterday and I thought getting a group of people together would help speed the process,” said Shutter to the Gazette, noting that the hiring process had not been transparent.
Another protester, Michelle Appleby of Mainesburg, Pennsylvania, told the Gazette that she was at the rally to protest against Loehmann’s hiring after seeing the news on Facebook.
“I saw it on Facebook today and was absolutely shocked that anybody or any group of people would hire that man.”
Loehmann has since withdrawn his application from the Tioga borough, Hazlett and the Tioga county district attorney’s office confirmed to WETM 18 News, a local news affiliate.
Neither representative provided a specific explanation for why Loehmann withdrew his application.
This is not the first time Loehmann has applied to be a police officer following the killing of Tamir Rice. Loehmann previously applied to work for a police station in Bellaire, Ohio, but subsequently withdrew his application following widespread outrage.
