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.