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December 4, 2015
Preliminary Expert Report Re: Shooting Death of Tamir Rice
To date, my assignment in this case has been to perform a forensic biomechanical engineering and kinematic
analysis including, but not limited to, the timing of the incident, injuries sustained, movements and body
positions of the decedent (Tamir Rice) surrounding the time of the incident by reviewing available materials,
physical evidence and information including, but not limited to, the recently released Cuyahoga County
Prosecutor’s office enhanced surveillance video stills.
Forensic biomechanical engineering and kinematic analysis are scientific disciplines concerning the application
of physics, mathematics, geometry, etc., to the human body, particularly involving injurious situations, and the
study of human movements.
I have a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from UCLA, with an emphasis in biomechanics, biomaterials and
tissue engineering. I am also trained in the evaluation, interpretation and reconstruction of shootings. I have
been retained and testified as an expert in these fields hundreds of times around the United States, as well as in
Canada and Mexico.
To date, I have reviewed the following information:
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News articles and interviews
Medical Records:
o Autopsy photos
o Medical Examiner’s Verdict
o Cleveland Emergency Medical Service
o MetroHealth Medical Center
Cuyahoga Sheriff’s Department Documents:
o Incident Summary
o Parties Involved
o Investigative Process
o Background on Parties Involved
o Witness Interviews
o Final Notes
o Interview transcripts
o Emergency Department Summary
o Trace Evidence laboratory Examination Report
o DNA Laboratory Examination Report

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o Toxicology Laboratory Report
Preliminary and Supplemental Expert Reports of Jeffrey Noble
Judge Adrine’s rule regarding probable cause
Report and Opinions of W. Ken Katsaris, Police Consultant and Trainer
Ohio State Highway Patrol Reconstruction Report
Department of Justice Investigation of the Cleveland Division of Police
Defendant City of Cleveland’s Answer to Second Amended Complaint
Letters to Timothy McGinty
Second Amended Complaint
Separate Answer of Defendants Loehmann and Garmback to the Second Amended Complaint of
Plaintiffs
Preliminary and Supplemental Reports on the Shooting Death of Tamir Rice authored by Roger
Clark
Review of Deadly Force Incident: Tamir Rice, authored by Kimberley Crawford
Investigative Report of S. Lamar Sims
Employment Records of Timothy Loehmann
Surveillance Video
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office Enhanced Video Analysis
Weather History for November 22, 2014
Statement of Officer Frank Garmback
Statement of Officer Timothy Loehmann

Kinematic Analysis
While performing the kinematic analysis, I reviewed the enhanced video stills released by the
prosecutor’s office and have included Frames 119 to 124 below. The annotations typed on these slides
are not my words but, were written by someone else. By including them in this report, I do not mean to
suggest that I agree with them.
It should be noted that the enhanced surveillance video stills are best viewed on a large screen, in order to
see the movements of Tamir Rice more clearly. Based on the information currently available, the
surveillance videos were capturing 2 frames per second therefore, there are 0.50 seconds between each
frame.

Frame 119, Tamir Rice’s hands are in front of his body
In Frame 119, we see Tamir Rice’s hands together, in front of his body, while he is moving slowly toward
the front of the gazebo and the police vehicle is moving forward.

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 Frame 120, Tamir Rice’s hands are still in front of his body
In Frame 120, we see that Tamir Rice’s hands are still together, in front of his body, while he continues
moving slowly forward. The police vehicle is moving forward.

Frame 121, Tamir Rice’s hands have moved into his jacket pockets
and are no longer visible
In Frame 121, Tamir Rice’s hands are no longer visible and he has moved them into his jacket pockets.
The annotation on the frame that “Rice’s right arm moves toward his waist” is not accurate. Rice’s right
leg is forward and his left leg is rearward, in the stance phase of his gait. The police vehicle continues
moving forward.

Frame 122, Officer Loehmann opens the passenger door, while the vehicle is still in motion, and
Tamir Rice’s hands are still in his jacket pockets
In Frame 122, while the vehicle is still in motion, Officer Loehmann opens the passenger door. Tamir
Rice’s hands are still not visible and in his jacket pockets. The annotation that Rice “lowers his arm to
waist” is not accurate. Rice has stopped moving forward and is stationary.

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 Frame 123, Officer Loehmann exits the vehicle while it is still in motion and Tamir Rice moves his
right arm upward in a defensive manner,
while his right hand is still in his jacket pocket
In Frame 123, Tamir Rice’s right shoulder and arm move upward, with his right elbow bent, in a
defensive-type position. Tamir Rice is shot at this approximate point in time. This defensive-type
movement causes his jacket to move upward and to the right, which is consistent with the location of the
bullet hole in his outer jacket, compared to his abdominal wound. This significant difference is described
in more detail below in the “injury” portion of this report. The vehicle is still in motion when Officer
Loehmann exits and begins shooting.

Frame 124, Tamir Rice begins falling to the ground as a result of being shot
by Officer Loehmann
In Frame 124, Tamir Rice “reacts to the gunshot”, by falling to the ground. It is clear that Rice has
already been shot at this point in time. As indicated above, Rice was actually shot at approximately
Frame 123.
It has been mentioned in previous reports, that this incident occurred over a duration of approximatley 1.7
seconds. However, that is not completely accurate. The subject incident occurred within a time frame of
1.0 seconds, according to the enhanced video. In Frame 122, Officer Loehmann opens the passenger
door, while the vehicle is still in motion, and Tamir Rice’s hands are in his jacket pockets. In Frame 124,
Rice has already been shot and is falling to the ground. With a 0.50 second interval between frames, the
time elapsed between Frame 122 and 124 is 1.0 seconds and the shooting occurred during this time
period. According to the crime scene photos and Officer Garmback’s statement, the vehicle windows
were up so, no audible commands could have been heard by Rice before Loehmann opened the door. The
timing of the incident is consistent with Officer Loehmann having already drawn his gun when he exited
the car (Frame 123). Meaning, he must have unholstered it prior to exiting the vehicle because there is
simply not enough time for him to have drawn his gun, aimed and fired it in the less than 1.0 second
timeframe shown on the video. Based on the timing of this event, Tamir Rice did not have enough time
to perceive and react to any verbal commands, which is exemplified by the fact that his right hand was

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 still in his jacket pocket at the time he was shot. It is clear that Officer Loehmann shot Tamir Rice
immediately upon exiting the vehicle, such that Rice did not have enough time to take his hands out of his
jacket pockets.
The above findings are consistent with the Police Procedures Expert, Roger Clark, who states:
“Officer Loehmann is still shown in the enhanced video as jumping out of the patrol unit just as it
pulled up to the gazebo and immediately shooting Tamir.”
“The enhanced video also indicates that Officer Loehmann had his gun already in hand when he
jumped out of the car, having apparently unholstered it while he was en route to the scene.”
Injuries
The injuries to Tamir Rice are documented in the autopsy report and photos. The autopsy report
documents that:

Figure 1 shows the bullet hole to the outer jacket.

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 Approximate
location of
midline
abdominal bullet
wound

Bullet hole

Figure 1, Bullet hole to the lower left portion of Tamir Rice’s outer jacket
The bullet hole is located in the left lower portion of his outer jacket, instead of the center (midline) where
his abdominal wound was because Tamir Rice lifted his right arm up and to the right, prior to being shot.
He did this while his right hand was in his jacket pocket and because his right hand was “attached” to the
jacket, as he moved his right arm up and to the right in a defensive-type manner, the jacket also moved
upwards and to the right. This explains the different locations between the bullet hole location in the
jacket and the midline abdominal wound location on the body. Tamir Rice was shot at the moment his
arm was raised, in a defensive manner, as show in Frame 123.

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 Opinions
Based on my review of the available evidence and information, it is my opinion, to a reasonable degree of
scientific certainty that:
1) Officer Loehmann shot Tamir Rice within 1 second of opening the vehicle door.
2) Tamir Rice did not have enough time to remove his hands from his jacket pockets, prior to being
shot.
3) The vehicle was still in motion when Officer Loehmann exited and began firing.
4) Officer Loehmann’s gun was drawn and unholstered when he exited the vehicle.
5) The windows of the vehicle were up at the time Officer Loehmann exited the vehicle thus,
making any verbal commands issued from inside the vehicle inaudible to anyone outside.
6) The toy gun was not visible to the officers prior to the shooting.
7) The video shows that at no point in his encounter with the police did Tamir Rice reach into his
waistband.
8) Tamir Rice’s hands were not visible to the officers prior to the shooting because they were in his
jacket pockets.
9) The movement of Tamir Rice’s elbow and shoulder in Frame 123 is consistent with Rice moving
his right arm up in a defensive manner, at the time of the shooting.
10) The significantly different location of the bullet hole in Rice’s jacket as compared to the bullet
entry wound in his midline abdomen is consistent with him being shot at approximately Frame
123, when his right elbow and arm moved upward in a defensive manner, causing his jacket to
also move upward and to the right.
11) The scientific analysis and timing involved do not support any claim that there was a meaningful
exchange between Officer Loehmann and Tamir Rice, before he was shot.
The findings in this report are based on currently available information, within a reasonable degree of
scientific certainty, and subject to revision upon acquisition of additional information or materials.
Sincerely,

Jesse L. Wobrock, Ph.D.
Accident Reconstruction & Biomechanics

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