The tragedy of the killing of Tamir Rice, 12, by Cleveland, Ohio, cop Timothy Loehmann took a shocking turn this past week. Looking into the background of Loehmann, who had only been on the force six months, it was uncovered that he was forced to resign from his previous job as a police officer in Independence, Ohio. Top supervisors in Independence were concerned over Loehmann’s mental state during training. It was reported that during a firearms training session, Loehmann became weepy, had great difficulty handling his weapon, and could not follow simple commands. His performance was called dismal by the training officer.
According to his personnel records, Loehmann broke down crying outside of a store with his police trainer. It was also during this brief stint as an Independence Police recruit that he left his handgun in his unlocked locker overnight and lied about the incident to his supervisor. His termination recommendation stated that Loehmann did not “possess the maturity needed “to work as a police officer. He was later told to resign or be fired.
However, when Loehmann was hired as a cop in Cleveland, investigators never looked at his employment file. Cleveland police officials have confirmed that they only inquired if Loehmann had any disciplinary actions related to his police work.
The video footage of Tamir Rice being shot by Loehmann and his subsequent statements all seem to show that Loehmann should not have been allowed to be a cop anywhere.
