CLEVELAND, Ohio — Timothy Loehmann, the former Cleveland police officer who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014, has been hired by two departments in West Virginia, according to a report.

Dragline, a nonprofit news organization associated with the American Civil Liberties Union in West Virginia, found that public records show that Loehmann was hired as an officer by the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office in August and Snowshoe Resort Community District in June.

Subodh Chandra, the lawyer for Rice’s mother, Samaria Rice, issued a statement saying that Loehmann’s hiring puts people at risk.

“Timothy Loehmann has no business being entrusted with a badge and a gun,” Chandra says in the statement. “And those who were imbecilic and heartless enough to hire him should be stripped of their jobs, just as has happened in other communities. What is wrong with these people? They have betrayed the public trust.”

Loehmann shot Tamir at Cudell Recreation Center on Nov. 22, 2014, while the boy was playing with an airsoft pellet gun. Tamir died the next day. Loehmann was a rookie officer. He was a passenger in a car driven by a veteran training officer, Frank Garmback.

The two officers responded to a report of someone pointing a gun at people outside the recreation center. The caller told a 911 dispatcher that the gun looked fake, but that information was never relayed to the officers. Garmback was suspended 10 days, but an arbitrator reduced the suspension to five days.

Cleveland fired Loehmann in 2017, not for shooting Tamir, but for lying on his application to the Cleveland police department. He failed to disclose that the Independence Police Department dismissed him after determining he was unfit to serve on its department, city officials said.

Loehmann was hired by three other police departments but had to quickly resign because of protests. Last year, he briefly worked for police at White Sulphur Springs, W. Va..

In 2022, he was hired by the department in Tioga, Pennsylvania, and in 2018, Bellaire, Ohio police hired him. He resigned both times after news of his hiring spread.

Dragline reports the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office and Snowshoe did not comment on Loehmann’s hiring. Chandra accused Snowshoe of “stonewalling” on his request for public records in regard to Loehmann’s hiring.

Samaria Rice tells Dragline she doesn’t understand Loehmann again being hired as a police officer.

“This man lied on his application to be a police officer in the first place,” Rice said. “He was crying on the gun range and was very careless with his gun. That proves that he’s unfit. I don’t understand what’s going on here.”

Chandra says the Rice family is hoping Loehmann’s hiring again will bring disapproval from the public.

“The Rice family hopes people will rise up and protest, just as they did in other towns where Loehmann was entrusted with a weapon again,” Chandra said.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Timothy Loehmann, the former Cleveland police officer who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014, has been hired by two departments in West Virginia, according to a report.

Dragline, a nonprofit news organization associated with the American Civil Liberties Union in West Virginia, found that public records show that Loehmann was hired as an officer by the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office in August and Snowshoe Resort Community District in June.

Subodh Chandra, the lawyer for Rice’s mother, Samaria Rice, issued a statement saying that Loehmann’s hiring puts people at risk.

“Timothy Loehmann has no business being entrusted with a badge and a gun,” Chandra says in the statement. “And those who were imbecilic and heartless enough to hire him should be stripped of their jobs, just as has happened in other communities. What is wrong with these people? They have betrayed the public trust.”

Loehmann shot Tamir at Cudell Recreation Center on Nov. 22, 2014, while the boy was playing with an airsoft pellet gun. Tamir died the next day. Loehmann was a rookie officer. He was a passenger in a car driven by a veteran training officer, Frank Garmback.

The two officers responded to a report of someone pointing a gun at people outside the recreation center. The caller told a 911 dispatcher that the gun looked fake, but that information was never relayed to the officers. Garmback was suspended 10 days, but an arbitrator reduced the suspension to five days.

Cleveland fired Loehmann in 2017, not for shooting Tamir, but for lying on his application to the Cleveland police department. He failed to disclose that the Independence Police Department dismissed him after determining he was unfit to serve on its department, city officials said.

Loehmann was hired by three other police departments but had to quickly resign because of protests. Last year, he briefly worked for police at White Sulphur Springs, W. Va..

In 2022, he was hired by the department in Tioga, Pennsylvania, and in 2018, Bellaire, Ohio police hired him. He resigned both times after news of his hiring spread.

Dragline reports the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office and Snowshoe did not comment on Loehmann’s hiring. Chandra accused Snowshoe of “stonewalling” on his request for public records in regard to Loehmann’s hiring.

Samaria Rice tells Dragline she doesn’t understand Loehmann again being hired as a police officer.

“This man lied on his application to be a police officer in the first place,” Rice said. “He was crying on the gun range and was very careless with his gun. That proves that he’s unfit. I don’t understand what’s going on here.”

Chandra says the Rice family is hoping Loehmann’s hiring again will bring disapproval from the public.

“The Rice family hopes people will rise up and protest, just as they did in other towns where Loehmann was entrusted with a weapon again,” Chandra said.