Cleveland officers sacked over shooting that killed two

Six Cleveland police officers were fired on Tuesday for their involvement in the killing of an unarmed couple during a 2012 police chase, CNN reports.

In addition to the officers who were fired, six other officers are being suspended without pay for between 21 and 30 days, officials said. It is believed that the sounds officers thought were gunfire might have actually been the auto backfiring as it led officers through Cleveland and into a school parking lot in the suburb of East Cleveland, where the shooting occurred. One suspect, 30-year-old Malissa Williams, was shot 24 times, and the other, 43-year-old Timothy Russell, was shot 23 times.

Steve Loomis, the president of the union representing rank-and-file officers, criticized the discipline as “absolutely politically motivated”, and said the union was already filing grievances and beginning the appeals process. Authorities outlined a host of violations, ranging from officers improperly firing their guns to failing to ask for permission before joining the chase. During the chase, there were 46 supervisors on duty, 18 of whom were involved in the pursuit, said police Cmdr.

A months-long federal probe later concluded that Cleveland police had engaged in a pattern and practice of excessive force.

It’s big moment for the Black Lives Matter movement, one that was necessary after a grand jury declined to indict that majority of the officers on criminal charges previous year.

The shooting came after a chase in which officers repeatedly said the people in the auto had a weapon, were firing – and were perhaps reloading. More seriously, some were accused of endangering other officers by creating or contributing to a crossfire situation.

Dorothy Sigelmier, Williams’ aunt, told cleveland.com she felt “OK” about the officers’ discipline but wished they had ended up in jail.

Following the Brelo verdict, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit with the city of Cleveland for the police force’s treatment of those protesting the ruling.

They say justice delayed is justice denied. Cleveland officials said Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, that they’re firing six police officers involved in a 137-shot barrage that killed two unarmed people after a high-speed chase. He shot the final 15 from the hood of Russell’s Chevrolet Malibu.

Michael Brelo during his trial in May.

Police shot at Russell and Williams 137 times in under 20 seconds, prosecutors said, with both of them found with about two-dozen bullet wounds.

As of yet no criminal charges have been brought forward against any of the police officers involved.

The windshield of Timothy Russell’s auto is shown as the crime scene was mocked up for a court to review previous year.