POCAHONTAS COUNTY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A former Cleveland police officer who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014 has been fired from a law enforcement position in West Virginia following public backlash, marking another chapter in a pattern of short tenures across several states.
Timothy Loehmann was dismissed Friday from his job as a ranger with the Snowshoe Resort Community District in Pocahontas County. The district’s board announced his firing after holding an emergency meeting, citing community concerns surrounding his employment.
Loehmann is known for the fatal shooting of Tamir Rice, who was shot within seconds of police arriving at a recreation center in Cleveland on Nov. 22, 2014.
Rice, who was Black, had been playing with a pellet gun. Loehmann and another officer, both white, told investigators that Loehmann shouted commands for Rice to raise his hands before firing.
A grand jury later declined to indict either officer.
Cleveland eventually settled a civil lawsuit with Rice’s family for $6 million, and Loehmann was later fired from the Cleveland Police Department for lying on his employment application.
In recent years, Loehmann has repeatedly left small law enforcement agencies after his hiring became public. In 2018, he accepted a part-time position with a police department in southeast Ohio but withdrew days later following criticism from Rice’s mother and others.
In 2022, he was sworn in as the sole police officer in a small Pennsylvania community but again departed amid backlash.
West Virginia agencies have also faced controversy over Loehmann’s employment. Last year, he resigned from a probationary officer position with the city of White Sulphur Springs. The city’s police chief who hired him later stepped down.
Loehmann’s firing from the Snowshoe Resort Community District marks the latest instance in which public opposition has led to his departure from a law enforcement role, continuing a pattern that has followed him across multiple states since the 2014 shooting.
