3 juveniles, man shot in Over-the-Rhine; witness says suspects are ‘kids’

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - Police are investigating a quadruple shooting in Over-the-Rhine early Wednesday evening.

Three juveniles, ages 10, 14 and 15, were shot while walking down East McMicken Avenue near Lang Street beside Grant Park, according to Cincinnati Chief of Police Teresa Theetge.

“These children were walking down the street in broad daylight. It’s unacceptable,” Theetge said. “We are going to work this case until we find out who was responsible. They are not going to get away with it.”

A man in his 20s was also shot. Police do not believe the man was with the juveniles when the gunfire began.

The children are at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. The adult is at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

All the injuries are non-life-threatening, Theetge says.

Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval offered the following Wednesday evening:

“Senseless acts of violence will not be tolerated in Cincinnati. Our children and our families deserve to spend their days in our community — our pools, our recreation centers, our parks — without any fear. My heart is with the families of the victims and our first responders. And our full support is behind Chief Theetge and our entire CPD team as they deliver justice.”

Walnut Street was fully closed between Moore Street and East McMicken, and East McMicken was fully closed between Lang and Main streets following the shooting.

More than 59 evidence placards sat on the ground along McMicken for more than two hours. Not all of them indicated shell casings.

Police have reviewed surveillance video and are looking for a black four-door Hyundai with dark-tinted windows. Theetge says there may have been more than one shooter.

A witness to the shooting says she saw three kids in a black car with blacked-out windows approach. One kid was standing through the sunroof and opened fire, the woman said. Multiple bullets hit the woman’s car.

The surveillance footage will be released as soon as possible, per Theetge.

“We need the citizens of Cincinnati to help with this, to step up and solve this,” she said. “We as a city, I don’t care who you are, you should not tolerate this type of behavior in our city. [...]It’s going to take all of us to send a message that this will not be tolerated, not in Cincinnati.”

CPD data from the last four years show Grant Park is an area of concentrated violence and the most dangerous part of Over-the-Rhine.

Nearly 21 percent of all shooting incidents since 2019 have happened within a block of the park, including 10 deadly shooting incidents that resulted in 11 fatalities, the most recent being in September 2021.

3CDC and the city are working on a $60 million plan that will rehabilitate and redevelop the area from Grant Park up to the anticipated Findlay Community Center.

The project includes the construction of the new state-of-the-art community center at Findlay Playground, the renovation of the OTR Rec Center and the renovation of Grant Park as well as street improvements to East McMicken, according to a 3CDC spokesperson.

The nonprofit developer believes the project will be every bit as transformational for the area as Washington Park was for the southern half of the neighborhood.

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