Officer Who Shot 12-Year-Old Tamir Rice Failed Sheriff Department Exam

CORRECTS THE ID OF THE MALE ON POSTER TO TAMIR RICE - Tomiko Shine holds up a picture of Tamir Rice, the 12 year old boy fatally shot on Nov. 22 by a rookie police officer, during a protest in response to a grand jur... CORRECTS THE ID OF THE MALE ON POSTER TO TAMIR RICE - Tomiko Shine holds up a picture of Tamir Rice, the 12 year old boy fatally shot on Nov. 22 by a rookie police officer, during a protest in response to a grand jury's decision in Ferguson, Mo. to not indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black man, at the Department of Justice in Washington, Monday, Dec. 1, 2014. Protesters across the U.S. have walked off their jobs or away from classes in support of the Ferguson protesters. Rice's death has also sparked community demonstrations against police shootings. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) MORE LESS
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The Cleveland police officer who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice had previously failed the written exam to be a deputy in the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department, according to documents reviewed by the Northeast Ohio Media Group.

Timothy Loehmann took the exam in September 2013 and scored a 46 percent on the cognitive exam administered by the department. The department considers a 70 percent a passing score.

Loehmann did pass the physical exam, but the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department did not ultimately accept his application to be a deputy sheriff, according to the Northeast Ohio Media Group.

Loehmann resigned from the Independence police department in 2012 after a poor performance review. He applied to numerous police departments before he was hired in Cleveland, according to the media group.

Rice was killed in November while he was playing with a toy gun at a playground.

Loehmann and his partner, Frank Garmback, who was driving a patrol car at the time, are both on administrative leave while the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department investigates the incident.

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