“This is not an effort to exonerate. It’s not an effort to show the public that anybody did anything wrong,” Deputy Chief Edward Tomba told the AP. “This is an obvious tragic event where a young member of our community lost their life. We’ve got two officers that were out there protecting the public that just had to, you know, do something that nobody wants to do.”
Although he stated that the officers involved have been interviewed and police have obtained statements from several other people Tomba refused to speak on what the officers said in their statements. That included whether Rice made any comments to them.
As a result of the shooting an investigation of the officer’s use of force is underway as well as protests referencing the incident and other police-involved shootings.
Tomba stated that social media is being monitored by police to find any indications of other potential witnesses. He goes to say that the authorities are pleading for people to come forward if they have information related to the case, no matter if it’s just a little bit of information.
