The mother of a 12-year-old boy who was fatally shot by police after he was seen playing with a plastic gun on a Cleveland playground has spoken for the first time since burying her son.
Samaria Rice told ABC News in an exclusive interview that her 14-year-old daughter was tackled by police when she arrived at the scene of the shooting.
Cleveland Cops 'Recklessly' Shot Boy, 12, Over Toy Gun, Suit Claims St. Louis PD Sorry For 'Kids Will Be Kids' Tweet About Tamir Rice Cleveland Cop in Toy Gun Killing Resigned From Previous Job After 'Dismal' Handgun Performance, According to Files"I couldn't believe they tackled her and put her in handcuffs and in the back of the same police car that was on the grass that the officer got out of and shot her brother so my daughter is sitting there looking at her brother on the ground," Rice said this morning.
The mother of four has already filed a wrongful death lawsuit over Tamir's death but she said this morning that she wants "the police [to] be accountable for what they did to my son."
"I'm looking for a conviction for both of the officers," she said.
Rice is being represented by Benjamin Crump, the same attorney who helped the parents of Michael Brown, the teen fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, this summer.
"If the Cleveland police is unequipped to deal with children playing with toys and toy guns, then we need to outlaw toy guns in Cleveland so we have no more children getting killed," Crump said.
"You can't kill children playing at the playground with toy guns a few yards from their house," he added. "It's unimaginable and we have to address this very seriously."
Calls to Cleveland Police for comment were not immediately returned.
The shooting will be the subject of a grand jury investigation, and the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office will present evidence from police to the grand jury, which will decide whether the officer should face charges.
At the same time, the city of Cleveland is working toward a settlement with the Justice Department after a two-year federal investigation found that police officers there have displayed a pattern of excessive force.