“We have recovered a knife here at the scene,” Isaac told media near the scene this morning.
The officer was not injured, WCPO reported.
It is the fourth fatal shooting involving Cincinnati police so far this year; one of those involved an off-duty officer working a private security detail.
Police got a call at 7:21 a.m. about a robbery at the Kroger store at 1420 Vine St. in Over-the-Rhine, Isaac said during the press conference.
An officer from Cincinnati Police District One found a person matching the robbery suspect’s description at Government Square on Fifth Street, he said.
During a struggle the officer fired multiple times, Isaac said.
The dead suspect has not been identified; staff from the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office said he is a black man in his 20s, but he was not carrying any identification.
“We’re photographing everything from when we’re approaching, to the position to the body, to any casings or shells or anything we can see around the scene,” Coroner Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco told WCPO.
Multiple officers responded to Government Square, but only one seems to have fired, Isaac said during the press conference. Homicide Unit detectives are interviewing that officer, as well as witnesses, he said; they’re also obtaining video footage from the area.
Isaac said the department will refer the case to the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office, as is standard procedure.
The Cincinnati Police Department’s policy is to place any officer involved in a shooting on administrative leave for seven days. A full media briefing will take place within the next day, Isaac said.
“I think it’s important that we put out the information as timely as possible. And we want to be factual in that information. We want to make sure that we’re certain of what occurred, and we’re in the process of gathering that information,” he said.
Multiple officers responded to the call, but only one officer seems to have fired, Isaac said. Police are interviewing that officer, as well as witnesses, Isaac said.
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