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Tuesday 26 April 2016

Cleveland to pay $6m over Rice shooting

Tamir Rice was shot and killed by police in Cleveland, Ohio, in November 2014

The US city of Cleveland has agreed to pay $6m (£4.14m) to the family of 12-year-old black boy Tamir Rice, who was shot and killed by police in 2014.

He was playing with a pellet gun outside a recreation centre when he was shot by a white police officer.

A grand jury declined to bring charges against the police.

Rice's death sparked protests in Cleveland at a time when the deaths of black men at the hands of police had sparked a national debate.

It became a focal point for the "Black Lives Matter" movement.

An order filed in the US District Court in Cleveland says the parties in the case have agreed on the sum of $6m - half to be paid in 2016 and the remainder next year.

The estate of Tamir Rice receives $5.5m, with $250,000 going to his mother, Samaria, and $250,000 to a recipient listed as TR.

The settlement carries no admissions of any wrongdoing.

Video of the incident showed a police cruiser pulling up close to the boy outside the centre on 22 November 2014.

Tamir Rice's mother, Samaria. The family argue the police acted too quickly

One of the two police officers inside, rookie patrolman Timothy Loehmann, jumps out and fires his service weapon twice. Tamir Rice died the next day.

Police maintained that the pellet gun had looked real and that they had asked him to raise his hands three times.

The shooting incident lasted just two seconds, and Tamir's family said the video footage showed the police had acted too quickly.

Although a grand jury declined to bring charges, the US Department of Justice is investigating any possible infringement of federal civil rights.

Analysts say the settlement shows neither the Rice family nor the city wanted to pursue a high-profile and potentially long-lasting legal case.

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