12-year-old holding fake gun shot dead by police

A police officer is under investigation after shooting dead a 12-year-old boy who pulled a replica gun from the waistband of his trousers in a playground.

Tamir Rice passed away in the early hours of Sunday in Cleveland, Ohio, the day after he was shot while holding the airsoft gun - which resembles a semi-automatic handgun but fires pellets. 

Sky News reports that a 911 call was made to Cleveland Police shortly before 3.30pm on Saturday by a caller who told dispatchers twice that the gun was "probably fake".

In the recording, he says: "There is a guy with a pistol ... It’s probably fake, but he’s pointing it at everybody."

Towards the end, he adds: "You know it's probably fake, but it's scaring the **** out of everyone."

Deputy chief of police Ed Tomba said one officer fired twice after the boy pulled the "fake weapon" - which did not have the orange safety indicator usually found on the muzzle of replicas, the media report.

He said: "The boy did not make any verbal threats but grabbed the replica handgun after being told to raise his hands, that’s when the officer fired."

The officer and his partner have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure.

An attorney for the boy's family, Timothy Kucharski, said Tamir went to the park with friends, but he did not know the details of what led to the shooting.

"I don't want to make a rush to judgement," he said.

Jeff Follmer, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, said the officers were not told that the 911 caller suspected the gun might have been fake.

He said the officers were dispatched to the playground outside a city recreation centre and saw the pistol sitting on a table or bench.

He said they watched as the boy grabbed the weapon and put it in his waistband.