On September 6, 2018, a

mass shooting There is a lack of consensus on how to define a mass shooting. Most terms define a minimum of three or four victims of gun violence (not including the shooter or in an inner city) in a short period of time, although an Australian study from 20 ...

occurred in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, United States. At 9:06 am EDT, Omar Santa-Perez opened fire with a Taurus PT-809E 9mm pistol equipped with standard and

hollow-point ammunition upright=0.2, Cross-section of a hollow-point bullet; proportions are those of a .22 Long Rifle cartridge Jacketed soft point (JSP) round. Right: Jacketed hollow-point (JHP) round. JSP is a semi-jacketed round as the jacket does not extend to ...

, in the lobby of the Fifth Third Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, killing three people. He was then shot and killed by responding police officers.

Perpetrator

Omar Enrique Santa-Perez, 29, was a U.S. citizen born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Leading up to the incident, Santa-Perez had a history of employment and mental health problems, twice being sent by a judge to be evaluated by mental health professionals. It is unclear whether he attended these evaluations voluntarily. Neighbors described Santa-Perez as "increasingly bitter" in the weeks leading up to the shooting after struggling to hold down a job. Three months prior to the shooting, federal magistrate Karen Litkovitz threw out a lawsuit Santa-Perez had filed against CNBC Universal Media LLC and TD Ameritrade Holding Corp in December 2017 quoting it to be "rambling, difficult to decipher and borders on delusional". In the lawsuit, Santa-Perez alleged that CNBC and TD Ameritrade, through tapping of his personal electronic devices, had uncovered his identity and published it online. There is no evidence of any mention or allusion of him by CNBC prior to the shooting. As part of this lawsuit, Santa-Perez initially demanded more than $5 million in damages, though he later reduced his demand to $3.3 million in federal court. Santa-Perez was also required to disclose his financial holdings as part of the lawsuit, which when asked if he had "any cash on hand or money in savings, checking or other account," he checked "No". He also claimed he had about $700 in stocks and owed about $800 to T-Mobile and University of Cincinnati Health.

Incident

Prior to the attack, Santa-Perez had entered a sandwich shop and potentially visited other businesses in the building, before returning to the bank and opening fire. Those killed in the attack were identified as two bank employees and a contractor. Two other victims were injured in the attack. Santa-Perez's gun reportedly jammed at least once during his shooting spree. This gave officers enough time to approach the center's main lobby, where they encountered an active shooter situation, with Santa-Perez firing into the lobby. Four of the responding officers engaged the shooter with their weapons, striking Santa-Perez multiple times.

Body camera A body camera, bodycam, body worn video (BWV), body-worn camera, or wearable camera is a wearable audio, video, or photographic recording system. Body cameras have a range of uses and designs, of which the best-known use is as a part of poli ...

footage of the shooting released by the

Cincinnati Police Department The Cincinnati Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency of Cincinnati, Ohio. The department has 1,057 sworn officers and 281 non-sworn employees. History When Cincinnati incorporated, as a village, in 1802, a ‘night watch� ...

showed Santa-Perez indiscriminately shooting at any person he saw, and the gunman was later shot dead through a glass pane by police. The Hamilton County Coroner told reporters "The aggressor had one weapon, but a whole lot of rounds of ammunition. And he didn't hesitate to pull the trigger, empty his magazine, release and do it over and over again."

Victims

One of the victims was reported deceased by first responders at the scene, while two others were declared deceased after arriving at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Two other victims were also transported, with one listed in critical condition and the other in fair.

Investigation

Speaking at a press conference, Cincinnati mayor

John Cranley John Joseph Cranley (born February 28, 1974) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 69th Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio from 2013 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a member of the Cincinnati City Council and a partner o ...

stated that initial reports appeared to show that the victims were shot at random and that, "it didn't appear to be a dispute between people." During the initial investigation, it was discovered by police that the shooter was carrying hundreds of rounds of ammunition and "...could've killed over 100 people." Body camera footage was released by law enforcement on September 8, which documented the officers' actions when they encountered the gunman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cincinnati shooting, 2018 2018 in Ohio 2018 mass shootings in the United States 2018 murders in the United States Attacks in the United States in 2018 Crimes in Cincinnati Deaths by firearm in Ohio Mass shootings in the United States Mass shootings in Ohio September 2018 crimes in the United States September 2018 events in the United States Filmed killings