Monday May 7 1:42 PM ET
Cincinnati Braces for Post-Riot Indictment Ruling

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Police were on alert on Monday in Cincinnati, bracing for community reaction to the results of a grand jury investigation of a white officer's shooting of an unarmed black man that touched off several days of rioting last month.

City officials and religious leaders in the black community urged calm no matter what the grand jury decides in the shooting death of Timothy Thomas, 19, by officer Stephen Roach exactly one month ago.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen scheduled a news conference for 6 p.m. EDT on the findings of a nine-member grand jury investigating Thomas' death.

Thomas was the 15th black crime suspect to be killed since 1995 by Cincinnati police, who killed no white suspect during that period.

The shooting touched off protests, looting, arson and assaults centered in Cincinnati's predominantly black Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. More than 800 people were arrested and dozens were injured until the city imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew and beefed up law enforcement on the streets.

Thomas' shooting rekindled questions about whether police unfairly target blacks -- a national issue -- as well as questions about how the city was run and whether the plight of its black residents was being ignored.

Roach, 27, pursued Thomas into a dark alley, telling investigators he thought Thomas was reaching for a gun before he opened fire. Thomas had been sought on several misdemeanor warrants, most for traffic offenses.

The grand jury could indict Roach on anything from murder to misdemeanor charges, or decide not to charge him at all.

Cincinnati has a population of about 300,000, of which 43 percent is black.

-- Anonymous, May 07, 2001

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-- Anonymous, May 07, 2001