Police: Video clearly shows shooting of Ohio boy, 12

Surveillance video is "very clear on what took place" at a Cleveland playground when a rookie police officer fatally shot a 12-year-old boy brandishing a fake gun, police said Monday.

Tamir Rice was shot twice in the torso Saturday afternoon and died at a hospital Sunday morning.

Deputy Chief Ed Tomba said the officer, one of two who responded to a dispatcher's call, was less than 10 feet from Tamir under a gazebo when the confrontation took place He declined to say if the video matches the officer's description of events, saying a full interview of the officer has not been conducted.

Neither he nor Chief Calvin Williams explained why police have not obtained a full statement from the officer.

The boy's family declined to view the video but it was shown to family representatives, Tomba said. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said the video would be released, but did not say when.

The identities of the officers have not been made public. They were placed on three days' paid administrative leave, and will be on restricted duty when they return, police said.

Tomba said the investigation could take three months, after which a grand jury will hear the case to decide if charges are warranted.

Tomba said one officer fired twice after the boy pulled the fake weapon from his waistband but had not pointed it at police. The boy did not make any verbal threats, but he grabbed the replica handgun after being told to raise his hands, Tomba said.

Williams said the "airsoft"-type pellet gun lacked the orange safety tip required at the time of sale and was indistinguishable from a real semiautomatic pistol.

"Guns are not toys," he said. "We need to teach our kids that."

"Who would've thought he would go so soon?" Gregory Henderson, a close friend of Tamir's family, told WKYC-TV. "To be 12 years old, he doesn't know what he's doing. Police, they know what they're doing."

Henderson also questioned why police did not use a Taser-type weapon.

"You shot him twice, not once, and at the end of the day you all don't shoot for the legs, you shoot for the upper body," Henderson said to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.Henderson, identified by that newspaper's website as Tamir's father, said Tamir was a "respectful" young man who minded his elders.

A 911 call to police in which a man says the gun was "probably fake" has added to the controversy.

Jeff Follmer, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, said the officers were not told the caller thought the gun might be fake. He said an officer taking a Taser out when they believe there could be a person with a gun puts the officer at risk, the Plain Dealer reported.

The hacker group Anonymous claimed responsibility Monday for shutting down the City of Cleveland's website after Rice's shooting, WKYC said. The FBI is investigating.

Rice's friends and family brought posters, candles and teddy bears to the scene.

Monday afternoon, a few dozen protesters ralliedon the city's Public Square, and some briefly blocked traffic. About 5 p.m., protesters gathered at the Cudell Recreation Center, where Tamir was killed.

The shooting comes amid a continued nationwide focus on police incidents, including the ongoing grand jury investigation in Ferguson, Mo., and the fatal shooting of a Florida policeman during a house fire outside Tallahassee on Saturday.

In October 2013, a sheriff's deputy in Santa Rosa, Calif., shot dead a 13-year-old boy carrying an airsoft replica AK-47 assault rifle. The deputy was not charged.

Ohio State Rep. Alicia Reece of Cincinnati announced Sunday that she would introduce legislation to require all BB guns, air rifles and airsoft guns sold in Ohio to be brightly colored or have prominent fluorescent strips.

Reece, president of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus, said she is introducing the bill in response to the fatal shootings of Tamir and John Crawford III, 22.

Crawford was fatally shot by police on Aug. 5 after a man called 911 to report that Crawford was carrying a gun in a suburban Dayton Walmart store. Police said they believed the air rifle Crawford had picked up was a real rifle and that he didn't respond to commands to drop it.

A special grand jury concluded police officers' actions were justified. The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the shooting.

Contributing: Wale Aliyu, WKYC; Michael Winter, USA TODAY; Associated Press