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Cop kills gunman in shootout

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Police: Dead man fired first

By William A. Weathers and Cindy Kranz The Cincinnati Enquirer Police Chief Tom Streicher points to a shotgun held by Sgt. Tom Lanter during a press briefing early Friday morning. (Jeff Swinger photos) A white Cincinnati police officer shot and killed a 22-year-old African-American man after a gun battle early today on Beekman Street in Millvale, police said.

Lt. Col. Ronald Twitty said the man fired first at Officer Thomas Haas. Officer Haas was involved earlier this month in a gun battle in Over-the-Rhine.

Police Chief Thomas Streicher said Officer Haas, who was not injured, survived “a very dangerous encounter this evening.” Based on the number of shell casings recovered at the scene, “It appears there was very active gunfire,” the chief said.

According to Lt. Col. Twitty, police officers responded at 12:15 a.m. to a report of a man with a shotgun on Beekman Street near Millcreek Road. The first officer did not locate the man but Officer Haas responded after another call was received about the man.

A police cruiser damaged by gunfire. Officer Haas and the suspect were “roughly 20 to 30 feet apart” during the gunfire, Chief Streicher said. The suspect fired at least two rounds from a sawed-off, pump action, 12-gauge shotgun with a pistol grip, the chief said. Officer Haas fired his 9mm handgun and a shotgun at the suspect. Damage to the roof of Officer Haas' cruiser appeared to have been made by a shotgun blast.

The man, not immediately identified, was pronounced dead at University Hospital at 12:32 a.m.

This was the first fatal shooting by a Cincinnati officer since Timothy Thomas was killed on April 7 while fleeing an officer. Mr. Thomas's shooting sparked several days of rioting. It's the 16th time an African-American man has been killed in confrontations with Cincinnati police since February 1995.

On July 10, Officer Haas was engaged in a running gun battle with a man who police say attempted a robbery on Elm Street in Over-the-Rhine. Investigators determined that Officer Haas fired 19 times and that the man he was chasing, Deangelo Williams, 24, of Clifton, fired at least 17 times. No one was hit. (July 12 story)

Mr. Williams was arrested and has been indicted.

A distraught woman arrived on the scene after the shooting. | ZOOM | Chief Streicher called Officer Haas an "exceptional police officer." Officer Haas, who has been with the police division about eight years, is beat officer in District 3. He is not a member of the recently formed Violent Crimes Task Force.

Chief Streicher said clergy members and monitors from the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission will be in Millvale today to give residents facts about the shooting.

The site of the gun battle is adjacent to the ball field at the Millvale Community Center.

Officer Haas will be placed on at least seven days paid administrative leave while the shooting is investigated. Such a leave is routine in officer-involved shootings.

The officer-involved shooting was the fourth locally since the fatal shooting of Mr. Thomas.

On May 16, Officer Matt Martin shot a knife-wielding man at a busy Mount Auburn intersection. The man, Antoine Williams, 21, of Mount Auburn, was accused of attacking a social worker nearby, then advancing on the officer.

A police investigator searches the scene of the shooting. | ZOOM | Mr. Williams was shot in the groin. He has since been indicted and remains in custody.

Earlier this week, a Boone County police officer shot and killed a Florida man who pulled a pellet gun on another officer.

Lawyers from the U.S. Department of Justice are investigating Cincinnati police officers' use of force.

Of the 15 other African-American males killed in confrontations with Cincinnati police since February 1995, six were armed with guns, and another took away an officer's gun. One was armed with a knife, one wielded a brick and another held a board with nails in it.

Three, including Mr. Thomas, were not armed.

Two of the incidents involved suspects in cars, one of which dragged an officer to his death in September 2000.

Timothy Thomas's mother can forgive, but can't forget Stories of previous 15 black men killed by police since 1995

-- Anonymous, July 27, 2001

Answers

I've been following the situation in Cincinatti since the riots and hope, as you say, that this incident doesn't spark more disturbances. The evidence that Officer Haas acted properly seems fairly clear, but that doesn't always mean people will believe it.

-- Anonymous, July 27, 2001

Friday July 27 9:04 AM ET

White Policeman Kills Black Teen-Ager in Cincinnati

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - A white policeman killed a black teen-ager on Friday in a gunfire exchange, marking the first fatal shooting of a black man by a Cincinnati police officer since a killing that sparked race riots in April.

Police Chief Thomas Streicher said veteran officer Thomas Haas exchanged shots with the 19-year-old victim in the city's predominantly black Millvale section shortly after midnight EDT.

The officer was not injured during the gun fight, in which he fired seven shots and the suspect fired at least twice from a shotgun, the chief told reporters.

Streicher said Haas responded to a police radio call about a man with a shotgun in the area, which is about one mile west of the city's Over-the-Rhine section where the worst rioting occurred in April.

An investigation was under way to determine who fired the first shot and whether the shooting was a justifiable homicide, the chief said.

The incident came just two days after a new 70-member Police Violent Crimes Task Force went into operation to cope with a rise in street shootings in largely black districts since the riots. Haas was not a member of the task force, Streicher said.

Cincinnati shooting incidents, resulting in deaths and injuries, have increased by more than 600 per cent since the April unrest, compared with the same period a year ago, according to police.

Haas was also involved in a running gun battle with a black suspect on July 10, but neither was hurt, Streicher said. The suspect, D'Angelo Williams, 24, was apprehended and faces several charges from the incident.

Police Lt. Kurt Byrd told Reuters the suspect killed early on Friday fit the description of a man reportedly seen carrying a shotgun in the Millvale neighborhood on two other recent occasions.

-- Anonymous, July 27, 2001

Leftists Are a Racist’s Best Ally

FrontPageMagazine.com | July 27, 2001

BEFORE THE APRIL RIOT, THE CINCINNATI POLICE used to practice community policing. This two-decade-old concept introduced by UCLA professor James Q. Wilson is also known as the “Broken Windows” theory. The term comes from neighborhoods that have broken windows, abandoned buildings, dirty streets and graffiti. The theory goes that, in these types of disorganized areas, people who live there tend to act much like their surroundings. In other words, if small disorders are ignored, larger disorders such as serious crime may flourish.

Popularized in New York City under the Giuliani administration, “Broken Windows” calls for the police to arrest people for petty violations and to investigate suspicious people in high-crime areas. Theoretically, arrests made for petty violations will provide apprehensions of people who are wanted for crimes that are more serious.

This policy worked well in New York. Crime decreased because many probation and parole violators were imprisoned. Many criminals with outstanding warrants were arrested and generally, criminals were removed from the community. However, more contact between police and suspects also means more opportunities for shootings.

Leftist agitators exploited these shootings, citing racism. This culminated last April in Cincinnati with what agitators described as a “rebellion.”

Activists called Cincinnati police officers murderers. They demanded investigations. They demanded prosecutions. They termed police shootings “executions.” They said that the Cincinnati police routinely engage in racist activities.

Of course, the mainstream media reported these allegations without an iota of skepticism.

Neither the mayor, the governor, nor the DA, spoke up to endorse their department. Quite the opposite, the Governor went to the services of a slain suspect.

The police realized that the city government infrastructure was all too willing to purge them. A reminder of this was a new city ordinance, requiring police to complete a contact card denoting the race of drivers being investigated for traffic violations. These cards can be used as evidence of racial profiling, according to Lieutenant Kurt Byrd, of the Cincinnati Police Public Information Office.

Cognizant of the possibility of civil and criminal litigation, the police have eschewed the Broken Windows theory and now approach their duties cautiously. They still enforce the law, however, they minimize the risk. No longer do they routinely investigate petty traffic violations, suspicious vehicles, or suspicious persons. No longer do they routinely risk hastily traveling to crime scenes.

If they make an arrest, they make an arrest. If they don’t, they don’t. The primary concern is to avoid any action that the second-guessers and provocateurs could use to form a lynch mob, or to claim racism.

What is the result of this new conduct? Crime rates, especially homicides of black males, have increased exponentially. Lt. Byrd said there were 18 shooting incidents from April 13 to July 12 last year. For the same period this year, there were 66 – a 360-percent increase.

Now the same people who vilified the police for killing too many blacks are criticizing them for not preventing black crime. Reverend Damon Lynch, of the Black United Front (BUF), has been at the forefront of both protests.

On Monday’s Nightline, Lynch and Keith Fangman of the Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police debated the performance of the Cincinnati police in the aftermath of the civil unrest. On the show Lynch stated, “ We’re not anti-police.”

He’s not? The Cincinnati Enquirer, which has been sympathetic to Lynch, quoted him as saying: “Cincinnati, like many cities, breeds a police culture negative toward blacks.”

Moreover, the BUF has circulated a petition stating that the United States of America is engaged in the genocide of black people. If Lynch believes this, then he quite obviously would be opposed to any government – particularly the enforcement branch.

Cincinnati’s Lt. Byrd said Lynch made two misstatements during his Nightline appearance – neither questioned by host Ted Koppel. First, Lynch claimed Cincinnati has a gun buyback program. There is no such program. Second, Lynch claimed the increase in shootings were the result of guns stolen from pawnshops during the looting. According to Byrd, only two pawnshops were looted and no guns were stolen from either.

Lynch is more a leftist ideologue than a community leader. He spouts the same liberal canards about law enforcement.

I have always said that a leftist was a racist’s best ally. Leftists’ inability to support strict law enforcement has contributed to the leading cause of fatality among young African-American males -- homicide.

Cincinnati has validated my claim.

Michael P. Tremoglie is a freelance writer currently working on his first novel, and an ex-Philadelphia cop. E-mail him at elfegobaca2@earthlink.net.

-- Anonymous, July 27, 2001