Ohio sheriff seeks state help in police shooting of boy

January 9, 2015 at 11:04a.m.

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cuyahoga County sheriff’s department has asked the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation for help in its investigation of a Cleveland police shooting that killed a 12-year-old boy carrying a pellet gun.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson recently asked the sheriff instead of BCI to complete an investigation into the Nov. 22 fatal shooting of Tamir Rice because he didn’t trust BCI to conduct an impartial probe.

Jackson has repeatedly said he disagrees with Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s comment last year that the department suffered a systemic failure after 13 police officers fired 137 rounds into a car and killed two unarmed people. BCI investigated that shooting. Six officers have been indicted and await trial.

The sheriff’s department has asked BCI for crime scene technical support and firearms testing.