--- description: Tamir Rice was playing with a toy gun when he was shot and killed title: Tamir Rice Autopsy Rules Cleveland Shooting a Homicide image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cba583e7394a602/69876e78428a9e5961cc6042/tamir-rice.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Death of 12-Year-Old Shot By Cleveland Police Ruled a Homicide  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Dec 12, 2014 6:08 PM CUT  A portrait of Tamir Rice at a memorial for the 12-year-old in a gazebo at the community park in Cleveland, Ohio where the boy who was shot dead by police on Nov. 22, 2014. A portrait of Tamir Rice at a memorial for the 12-year-old in a gazebo at the community park in Cleveland, Ohio where the boy who was shot dead by police on Nov. 22, 2014.Bob Ramsak—Demotix/Corbis  by [Charlotte Alter](/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Dec 12, 2014 6:08 PM CUT An autopsy of the 12-year-old black child shot by Cleveland police last month after they saw him holding a toy pistol has been ruled a homicide, authorities said Friday. Tamir Rice died of a “gunshot wound of torso with injuries of major vessel, intestines, and pelvis,” according to the autopsy. Rice was [shot by police](http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/08/us/cleveland-tamir-rice-mother/ "undefined") on Nov. 22 after he was witnessed playing with a pellet gun near his home. He died the next day. The police were responding to a 911 call in which the caller said that “a guy” was pointing a pistol at people and scaring them, but the caller [noted twice ](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/us/boy-12-dies-after-being-shot-by-cleveland-police-officer.html "undefined")that the gun was “probably fake.” Police are investigating what portion of the 911 call was relayed to the responding officers who shot Rice. **MORE**: [Body cameras poised to become standard after Ferguson ](http://time.com/3606376/police-cameras-ferguson-evidence/ "undefined") Rice’s shooting death came amid growing national scrutiny into police use-of-force against unarmed black men who have died in recent months. The deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner in New York City sparked nationwide protests this month after grand juries declined to indict the police officers in both cases. Read Tamir Rice’s full autopsy here: ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3631952/tamir-rice-autopsy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3631952/tamir-rice-autopsy/"},"headline":"Death of 12-Year-Old Shot By Cleveland Police Ruled a Homicide","datePublished":"2014-12-12T18:08:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:49:23.938Z","description":"Tamir Rice was playing with a toy gun when he was shot and killed","url":"https://time.com/3631952/tamir-rice-autopsy/","keywords":["Crime","police","Race","teen","shootings","Gun","Cleveland","Eric Garner","Michael Brown"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cba583e7394a602/69876e78428a9e5961cc6042/tamir-rice.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cba583e7394a602/69876e78428a9e5961cc6042/tamir-rice.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A portrait of Tamir Rice at a memorial for the 12-year-old in a gazebo at the community park in Cleveland, Ohio where the boy who was shot dead by police on Nov. 22,2014.","caption":"A portrait of Tamir Rice at a memorial for the 12-year-old in a gazebo at the community park in Cleveland, Ohio where the boy who was shot dead by police on Nov. 22,2014.","creditText":"Bob Ramsak—Demotix/Corbis","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3631952/tamir-rice-autopsy/","name":"Death of 12-Year-Old Shot By Cleveland Police Ruled a Homicide"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Behind the Video of a Deadly Confrontation With Police","description":"TIME interviews the man who captured a fatal incident between Eric Garner and NYPD officers","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/QGZo2z1Q/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-07-22T16:49:46.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/QGZo2z1Q.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3631952/tamir-rice-autopsy/","duration":"PT3M49S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3631952/tamir-rice-autopsy/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: From California's Pineapple Express to Another Shutdown Drama","description":"Watch this week's #KnowRightNow to catch up on the latest top stories","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/yKgf4s2K/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-12-12T16:19:07.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yKgf4s2K.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3631952/tamir-rice-autopsy/","duration":"PT1M19S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3631952/tamir-rice-autopsy/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```