According to court documents, the city of Cleveland asserts that Tamir Rice was responsible for his own death. The 12-year-old was shot and killed last fall after police officers mistook his toy gun for an authentic one.
Rice was killed when Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback responded to a call about someone with a gun at a local park. Video footage shows Loehmann opening fire at the boy two seconds after he and Garmback's police car stopped in front of him. Rice's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city, and CBS News reports that a document filed Friday by the city revealed 20 defenses:
In a court document filed Friday, the city offers 20 defenses, one of which states that the family's injuries, losses and damages ... were directly and proximately caused by the acts of the Plaintiff's decedent (Rice), not this Defendant.
The city also argues that Rice failed to exercise due care to avoid injury.
The family was also cited in the court documents as responsible for Rice's death, along with unspecified individuals or entities" other than the city.
Rice's death was ruled a homicide by the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office in December. Last month, it was revealed that the city requested that an outside party handle the investigation into Rice's death.
[via CBS News]
