Cincinnati police officer survives shooting

April 11, 2001

Web posted at: 11:38 p.m. EDT (0338 GMT)

CINCINNATI, Ohio (CNN) -- A Cincinnati police officer was shot Wednesday night after three nights of violent protests over the shooting of an unarmed black man by police.

Police Lt. Ray Ruberg said it appears the officer's bulletproof vest took the brunt of the shot. He did not know the officer's condition.

Further details of the shooting were not immediately available.

The shooting of the officer came after the third day of anger in which protesters looted buildings and set fire to a market, threw rocks and bottles at police, and attacked motorists, police said.

The unrest stemmed from the Saturday killing of an unarmed black man by police -- the fifth African-American killed by Cincinnati police in seven months.

Cincinnati Police Lt. Ray Ruberg said more than 65 people had been injured in the violent demonstrations since Tuesday afternoon, and nearly 40 people had been arrested. Police in riot gear fired bean bags, rubber bullets and tear gas at rioters.

Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken canceled a City Council meeting Wednesday, fearing more rioting.

"There's a great deal of frustration within the community, which is understandable. We've had way too many deaths in our community at the hands of Cincinnati police," Luken said.

"I'm not asking anyone not to be frustrated, but to just realize in the short-term someone could get hurt," he added.

Demonstrators broke into small groups, and some set trash bins ablaze in a neighborhood bordering downtown Cincinnati. By early Wednesday morning there had been at least 39 arrests associated with the demonstrations and violence, according to Cincinnati police.

Charges range from looting and disorderly conduct to inciting a riot and theft.

Ruberg said police had put in place civil disturbance procedures before the Tuesday night riots had broken out, and more police officers were on the streets.

"We're hoping that community leaders come forth and talk to individuals, to try to convince them that civil disobedience, disorder and damage is not the way to get your message across," Ruberg said.

Tensions had been running high in the city after the death Saturday morning of Timothy Thomas, 19, who was shot while fleeing police. Thomas was wanted for a variety of minor misdemeanors, such as not wearing a seat belt.

The unrest began Monday night, when demonstrators broke out 28 windows at Cincinnati's City Hall. Tuesday afternoon, about 150 demonstrators -- young people, both black and white -- marched through city streets, overturning news racks and breaking windows, said Gina Ruffin Moore, communications director for City Manager John Shirey.

Tuesday's demonstrators never made it to City Hall, where police ringed the building with shields.

Fresh rioting began at dusk Tuesday, when arsonists set fire to the Findlay Market, an open-air market in Over-the-Rhine, the neighborhood where Thomas was shot, authorities said.

The disturbances began Monday after a meeting between Cincinnati's Public Safety Committee and local NAACP President Norma Hope Davis over the shooting.

"We're trying to help express community outrage and make sure this doesn't happen again," Davis said.

Community leaders, local ministers, members of the NAACP and elected officials met Tuesday night to discuss the situation. A prayer vigil was also held in Over-the-Rhine.

The FBI opened a preliminary civil rights investigation in Thomas' case Tuesday after talking with the chief of police, said FBI spokesman Ed Boldt.

Civil rights investigations are pending on two other cases, including one in which a suspect being arrested last November struggled with officers and died of asphyxiation.

State prosecutors have indicted two officers in that case, Boldt said.

Ruberg could not comment on reports that Thomas appeared to be reaching for a gun, saying that aspect of the case was under investigation. He said a police video relating to the incident had been subpoenaed by county prosecutors, but he did not know what the tape contained.

-- Anonymous, April 12, 2001

Answers

Thursday April 12 1:08 AM ET

Police Officer Shot in Cincinnati Rioting

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - A police officer, trying to quell rioting by black protesters, was shot on Wednesday night but apparently was spared injury by his bullet-proof vest, authorities said.

The violence erupted Monday in protest over the fatal shooting of an unarmed black youth, Timothy Thomas, 19, by a white officer, 26-year-old Steve Roach.

It escalated into full-scale rioting on Tuesday night and has resulted in 76 arrests and more than 70 injuries during the first two nights, police said.

When informed that a policeman was shot, Mayor Charles Luken said he might have to call in the National Guard military reserves by this weekend if the violence does not subside.

Luken said fatigued Cincinnati police, working 12-hour shifts, might need outside reinforcements to bring rioting under control, particularly with the evidence it was spreading on Wednesday in the third night of racial violence.

The mayor said in a television interview that he had received reports of several white motorists being attacked in their cars, either by invaders forcing their way into the vehicles or by assailants throwing rocks, bricks and other objects.

He said that while he could sympathize with the deep feelings that many protesters had about the fatal shooting of an unarmed black youth, he could not condone the assaults on white citizens ``because of the color of their skin.''

Looting, vandalism and arson were spreading into additional areas Wednesday night, a police spokesman said. Police fired back at marauding gangs with rubber bullets and bean-bag ammunition.

The mayor said he appreciated all the efforts by black clergymen and other community leaders to try to defuse the situation. Many of them took to the streets on Wednesday with their message of non-violence to young protesters.

``The results of our work in trying to calm things down are not seen in the streets tonight,'' Luken said. ``We're just going to have to do whatever it takes to bring it under control. It has to stop.''

Thomas was the 15th black crime suspect to be killed by Cincinnati police since 1995 during a period when there were no police killings of white suspects.

Protesters reacted on Wednesday when Police Chief Thomas Streicher said he could not release more details from the internal investigation into the weekend shooting.

Videotape of the incident was released to television stations on Wednesday night, but it was taken from such a distance that provided no clarification.

Streicher said all of the information obtained from the police investigation, including a transcript of the officer's statement, has been turned over to grand jury investigation.

Luken said he had been promised a prompt investigation by Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen and predicted that it would be concluded within a week

U.S. Post Office officials announced on Wednesday that they were suspending mail deliveries in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood for the duration of the violence. Residents of the area were requested to pick up their mail at a postal substation.

-- Anonymous, April 12, 2001