Bond was set at $250,000 by Judge Dan Gattermeyer. Smith is scheduled to be back in court for a preliminary hearing on July 19.
MORE: Police: Hamilton store clerk shot man through building’s window
Smith “had a verbal altercation” with the clerk, left the store, returned and shot the clerk in the leg from across the street, according to Hamilton police. The clerk was identified as Christopher Emmert, 39.
Authorities and a K-9 unit responded to the business, and tracked the suspect to VanBuren Court where Smith was taken into custody, according to police.
Three people called 911 reporting the shooting. All said several shots had been fired and the clerk was hit in the leg.
It is the second shooting in less than a month at Hamilton stores involving clerks.
On June 17, emergency units responded to Singletary’s Carry Out near Walnut and Second streets at about 12:55 p.m. for a report of person shot and found a man sitting across the street with a gunshot wound to the back, according to the police report.
The victim, Kenneth Wayne Wells Jr., 38, of Minster Street in Hamilton, suffered a non-life-threatening injury, according to Hamilton Police. A shot was fired through a window, hitting Wells in the back, police said.
“There was some type of fight inside between (him), and the clerk shot through the window,” Hamilton police Sgt. Richard Burkhardt said.
The clerk, who was not named by police, was questioned, but charges have not been filed.
MORE: Hamilton market shooting: Clerk’s claims of self-defense will get grand jury review
A grand jury will review a shooting at Singletary’s, according to Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser.
“It is going to a Butler County grand jury for review because it is a matter involving deadly force,” Gmoser told the Journal News.
A male 911 caller who said he was in the store told dispatchers he needed police and that he had been attacked.
“I just got attacked by a couple guys. One guy with his girlfriend … he was armed and he tried to attack me. I don’t know what happened, just can you please send an officer,” said the male caller.
The dispatcher said there was a call of shots fired at his location and asked if someone had been shot.
“Yea, I have been attacked, so …,” the man answered.
MORE: Records: Teen charged with Hamilton 19-year-old’s murder has been incarcerated 3 times before
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