Investigation of Hamilton drive-by shooting ongoing; callers to 911 heard multiple gunshots

Credit: Greg Lynch

Credit: Greg Lynch

Two people were injured Thursday night in a drive-by shooting at Bailey Square in Hamilton.

It happened at about 9:15 p.m. at Walnut and Second streets. Javon Monquez, 28, of Cincinnati, and Nicolette Shawnese, 28, of Hamilton, were both hit by gunfire.

Hamilton Sgt. Rich Burkhardt said their injuries are non-life-threatening.

Several calls were made Thursday night to 911 calls from neighbors and relatives of the victims.

One caller described it as “a large shooting” and “it looks like four different guns had been shooting.” That caller believed more than 20 shots were fired, saying it took place near the corner “where they hang out all the time.”

Exactly who fired the shots or was involved is uncertain at this time, according to witnesses and police.

A very emotional cousin of Monquez took him to Fire Station 22 on Pershing Avenue.

“Our cousin got shot,” a distraught man told the dispatcher. “He got hit in the back of his head.”

The man told the dispatcher his cousin was awake and breathing. Firefighter personnel could be heard in the background requesting a squad to return to Station 22.

A person with Shawnese ― he did not know her ― said she was shot in the neck but was alert and speaking.

Another 911 caller said there were three cars that “went screaming southbound on Second Street, ran through the stop sign by the church there.”

The dispatcher asked if he could describe any of the vehicles, and he could not adding “they were doing 70 miles an hour down Second Street.”

Detectives were called to the scene Thursday evening and the investigation is continuing. Burkhardt said there have been no arrests as of yet.