Timothy Loehmann, Officer Who Killed Tamir Rice, Fired by West Virginia Resort Community

A week after the ACLU of West Virginia first reported that Timothy Loehmann, the former Cleveland police officer who shot and killed Tamir Rice, had this year been hired by both the Snowshoe Resort Community District and the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office, Loehmann has been fired from one of the gigs.

Last week, the board of directors of the Snowshoe Resort Community District voted unamimously to dismiss Loehmann following public outcry memoralized in notes from a emergency meeting.

As for the other job, though Loehmann had been listed on publicly available documents as a patrolman for Gilmer County, Sheriff Donald Belin has not returned messages seeking comment regarding his current employment status.

Samaria Rice’s attorney, Subodh Chandra, said in a statement: “Every time Timothy Loehmann is misentrusted with a badge and a gun—and at least five communities have done so since Cleveland fired him for lying on his employment application—it makes Samaria Rice and her grieving family distraught.”

“Ms. Rice is grateful for the outpouring of support and local community concern that led to this decision to fire Loehmann,” he added. “But it never should have been necessary in the first place. Ms. Rice awaits an accounting of how the hiring decision happened, who was responsible, and what is being done to hold the offenders—and not just Loehmann—accountable.

Rice, for her part, said: “I still don’t understand how anyone can ever possibly hire Timothy Loehmann. I am happy that the community stood up once again, and I’m grateful for all of that support because I wouldn’t want another child to experience what Tamir and our family experienced. It’s a life-changing experience—and not for the better.”

Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.