[Baldwin:] New questions are being raised in the tragic incident where police shot and killed a Cleveland 12-year-old who had been pointing a toy gun at people in a public space. One of them being, why did it take almost four minutes for police to give this young man first aid, CPR, after he was shot. I want you to listen to the details from the police chief.
[Ed Tomba, Deputy Chief, Cleveland Police Department:] Approximately three minutes and 49 seconds after that took place, there was a first district detective, along with an FBI agent, that were working in the first district and they were working a bang robbery detail. They heard the assignment and they responded to the scene and provided first aid. The FBI agent is a nationally registered paramedic. So he was given first aid in under four minutes. And approximately three minutes after that, our emergency service medical unit, EMS, showed up and provided medical service to the young man.
[Baldwin:] If you are not as familiar with this story, let me set it up for you. Here's our correspondent, George Howell. He has surveillance video capturing how the moments before this boy was shot. But I have to warn you, it is graphic, so it could be tough for to you watch. Here you go.
[George Howell, Cnn Correspondent:] This video was record on a security camera in a Cleveland park and it shows Tamir Rice moving in and out of view. Keep in mind, these are the last few moments of this 12-year-old's life, a video his family wants you to see. First we see Rice pacing the sidewalk, brandishing what looks to be a weapon. At one point, even taking a two-handed shooting stance. All the while, police say, he was being watched.
[Tomba:] The gentleman sitting in the gazebo is the gentleman that called into our dispatch center.
[Howell:] Here's that initial call to 911.
[Caller:] I'm sitting in the park at West Boulevard by the West Boulevard rapid transit station. And there's a guy in here with a pistol, and it's probably fake, and pointing at every one.
[Howell:] In fact, the caller points out, twice, the gun is probably fake.
[Caller:] The guy keeps pulling it in and out. It's probably fake, but you know what, he's scaring people.
[Howell:] Here's the clip why the man called 911. The object that looks like handgun we now know is really a toy pellet gun. And Rice seems to point it at this person whose identity is blurred. Police say he's also seen here reaching for his cell phone, then having a conversation. Minutes later, Rice moves to the gazebo where he's now alone. This, just minutes before police arrive. And now we know exactly what the dispatcher told the responding officers before they arrived. Notice how she never relays the information that it may be a fake gun.
[Dispatcher:] Everybody's tied up with priorities. There's a guy sitting on a swing pointing a gun at people.
[Howell:] A few seconds later, she describes Rice but, again, fails to pass along the words the 911 caller used about the gun probably being fake.
[Dispatcher:] In the park, by the youth center is a black male sitting on a swing. He's wearing a camouflage hat, a grey jacket with black sleeves. Said he keeps pulling a gun out of his pants and pointing it at people.
[Howell:] What happens next happens very quickly. Officer Frank Garmack, driving, and Officer Timothy Lowman, in the passenger seat.
[Tomba:] The officers ordered him to show his hands and to drop the weapon and the young man pulled the weapon out and that's when the officer fired.
[Howell:] In the dispatcher's audio, you can hear the officers' grim call for help.
[Police Officer:] Radio, shots fired. Male down. Black male, maybe 20. Black revolver or black handgun. Send EMS this way.
[Howell:] Even as they call for help, the officers still not understanding that they've shot a 12-year-old boy carrying a toy gun.
[Tomba:] This is not an effort to exonerate, not an effort to show the public that anybody did anything wrong. This is an obvious tragic event where a young member of our community lost their life. We got two officers that were out there protecting the public that just had to do something that nobody wants to do.
[Howell:] George Howell, CNN, Atlanta.
[Baldwin:] Let's talk about this. Paul Callan, Joey Jackson. It's tough to look at it all together in its entirety but it provides perspective. We know when you see that patrol car zooming in on that lawn towards him, the officer saying through the door that was opened, put your hands up, put your hands up, put your hands up, three times. According to police, he reaches into his waist band and that's when they shoot him. Mistakes made?
[Callan:] Well, the biggest mistake obviously is by the dispatcher who should have told the officers that it was likely a fake gun. The officers approach and, you know, maybe they didn't know he was a 12- year-old. They were describing him as a 20-year-old. That gun is very realistic looking. What we have to know though is, what was that last interaction between the victim and the officers before the shots were fired. It's kind of hard to see that on the video because we're looking at a far-away angle.
[Baldwin:] Had dispatch told the responding officer, eyewitness on the scene says it could be a toy gun, you think that would have changed how the officer responded?
[Jackson:] You know, Brooke, I think it affects the state of the mind of the officer. Hearing a gun versus a toy gun, that's pretty big, pretty significant as far as how the officer would respond. There are multiple concerns here to me. That's first one. The second one is it could have been the officer asking for clarification. Third issue, there's a person with a gun. Wouldn't you keep a safe perimeter between you and the individual? You're going to roll straight up upon them? The fourth issue that concerns me is, two seconds and you ask someone three separate times to drop the weapon? That doesn't comport to me with reality. It appears, when we look at the videotape, there's a driving up and there's a shooting.
[Baldwin:] Very quick.
[Jackson:] So, you know, where's the ability to warn or, you know, warning, hey, drop it or whatever you do. I certainly understand police are in a very tough situation. They have to act upon a split- moment's notice. But if you keep a safe perimeter, keep your distance, say, hey, put the weapon down, you get down, I think the result would have been different than another child dead.
[Baldwin:] So those are your four different concerns. Then you have the issue we heard from the police chief saying that first aid was rendered within the first four-minute mark after he was shot. What is proper protocol for an officer to perform CPR?
[Callan:] In most police departments, they have training to administer CPR. We expect the officers at the scene would have administered it, particularly when they realized it was a child and it wasn't some adult that was shot. So, you know, I think there are all kinds of problems with this situation that might lead to at least a civil lawsuit. Whether criminal charges against the police will lie is another matter. We've had this long discussion about Ferguson. We might be having a similar discussion about Cleveland in the near future depending upon what the grand jury law is there.
[Jackson:] I certainly think we'll be having that discussion. As far as criminality, understand there's two prongs. The first prong is whether the officer feared for his life, and basically was he going to be injured or would he die. And the second prong is, did he act reasonably, Brooke, under those circumstances. That's how it will be evaluated criminally. From a civil perspective, it's negligence. Did the officer act in a negligent way? If so, civil and monetary damages will
[Callan:] And the city is responsible for the dispatcher in failing to adequately advise the officers that it was possibly a fake gun.
[Baldwin:] I agree with you. I think we will be talking about this one Paul Callan, Joey Jackson, thank you both very much.
[Jackson:] Thank you, Brooke.
[Callan:] Thank you.
[Baldwin:] Oh, yes, cue the Black Friday mob madness here. But as you're about to see, this wasn't even the worst of it. Stay right here.