Public viewing to be held for 12-year-old boy with fake gun fatally shot by Cleveland police

The Associated Press
December 1, 2014 at 4:20AM
This undated photo provided by the family's attorney shows Tamir Rice. Rice, 12, was fatally shot by police in Cleveland after brandishing what turned out to be a replica gun.
This undated photo provided by the family's attorney shows Tamir Rice. Rice, 12, was fatally shot by police in Cleveland after brandishing what turned out to be a replica gun, triggering an investigation into his death and a legislator's call for such weapons to be brightly colored or bear special markings. (AP Photo/Courtesy Richardson & Kucharski Co., L.P.A.) (AP Photo/Courtesy Richardson & Kucharski/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

CLEVELAND — A public viewing will be held for a 12-year-old boy who was carrying a pellet gun when he was shot and killed by a Cleveland police officer.

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer (http://bit.ly/1CuSfb6 ) reports that the viewing of Tamir Rice will be Sunday. His funeral service will be Wednesday at a Cleveland church.

The boy was shot Nov. 22 outside a recreation center by a rookie police officer responding to a 911 call about a male pointing a gun at others. The caller told the dispatcher it wasn't clear if the gun was real or fake.

The fake gun lacked the orange safety indicator usually found on the barrel and was indistinguishable from a real firearm at a distance.

The boy's death has sparked community demonstrations against the shooting.

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