Cleveland policeman who fatally shot Tamir Rice is fired

(Reuters) - An Ohio police officer who fatally shot a black 12-year-old boy in 2014 was fired on Tuesday following an internal investigation, city officials said. Timothy Loehmann, a rookie with the Cleveland Division of Police, shot Tamir Rice, who was playing in a playground with a toy gun that fired pellets. It was one of a string of killings that fueled protests against use of deadly force by U.S. police, particularly against minorities. Frank Garmback, a second officer involved in the shooting, will be suspended for 10 days and receive additional tactical training, Cleveland Director of Public Safety Michael McGrath said at a news conference. In 2015, a Cuyahoga County grand jury declined to charge Garmback or Loehmann. In March, a Cleveland police dispatcher was suspended for eight days for failing to warn officers that a 911 caller had described the scene at the playground as probably a child with a fake gun. (Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and James Dalgleish)