It's sad that Tamir died the way he did, but it's understandable, IMO. I think that the officers should not be indicted or face any charges. Tamir's death, IMO, is a result of his and his parent's bad choices, and inadequate parenting. There is a lot of parenting that should have happened, IMO-- adult supervision, and teaching about handgun and gun safety. Yes, kids sometimes make stupid choices, but I doubt that he was taught much of anything about gun safety, or "look alike" guns, and the consequences of brandishing them in a public place. The pellet gun he had was intentionally altered to make it look like a real handgun-- and they DO look like real guns. I wish the whole thing hadn't happened, but I don't hold the officers responsible for any wrongdoing. Cleveland is a rough place-- I lived there for many years. This kid looked like an adult male brandishing a handgun-- police had to respond accordingly. If Tamir had put his hands up when he saw the police cars coming with lights and sirens, before the LEOs even got out of the squad car, he'd still be alive, IMO.
I do think kids dying by gunfire is a very serious situation, and heartbreaking-- and most of the kids under 12 that are dying from gunfire, are dying from drive by and gang related gunfire in violent inner city neighborhoods. I think many of us would like to see a lot of intense efforts, strenuous policing, protests, and lobbying to stop that. I can think of several kids under 12 in the last week or 2 that were in the news for being shot in inner-city non-police violence. But no one seems to care about that-- it's in the news, then gone. Like it's a normal thing or something--"another 5 year old got shot today, and what was the score on the football game?" I guess maybe it is normal, in those neighborhoods. I've never understood why the moms, or activist groups, haven't come together to protest that. That's a cause I could get behind and support strongly. A lot of people would understand that kind of protest, and support it, IMO. No one seems to really care unless a police officer was involved as the shooter, and there is a big potential payout for the relatives.