Mustafa Çağlayan
January 27, 2016•Update: January 28, 2016
NEW YORK
Six police officers were fired and six others disciplined Tuesday for their roles in a fatal car chase that led to the killing of an unarmed black couple in Cleveland, Ohio, officials said.
Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams were killed in November 2012 in a barrage of 137 bullets fired by 13 officers in a car chase that began when the victims' car backfired while passing police headquarters, and officers mistook the sound as a gunshot.
The six officers dismissed were identified as Michael Brelo, Wilfredo Diaz, Chris Ereg, Michael Farley, Erin O'Donnell and Brian Sabolik, according to media reports.
Brelo, the only officer indicted in the incident, allegedly fired 15 of the shots after climbing onto the roof of the victims' car.
His acquittal on all charges last May sparked street protests in Cleveland, leading to dozens of arrests.
Additionally, six other officers faced suspensions ranging from 21 to 30 days and the remaining officer involved in the chase will retire early, said Public Safety Director Michael McGrath.
The U.S. has seen a string of police-involved killings of black suspects including Michael Brown in Missouri, Eric Garner in New York and Freddie Gray in Baltimore that have stirred racial tensions and set off nationwide protests over perceived injustices within the U.S. justice system.
In Cleveland,12-year-old Tamir Rice was shot dead in November 2014 by a rookie police officer because he said he believed the boy was carrying a gun, which turned out to be a replica airsoft gun that shot plastic pellets.
A December 2014 investigation into the city's police found the force systematically used unnecessary and excessive force far too often and failed to impartially investigate itself.
