Police hunt nightclub gunfight suspects
Print Edition
US police are searching for suspects in a nightclub shooting that left one man dead and 15 other people injured. The attack sent club patrons diving to the ground to dodge bullets in what they described as a chaotic and terrifying scene.
A gunfight broke out inside the crowded Cameo club in Cincinnati early on Sunday after a dispute among several patrons escalated, authorities said. Some 200 people were inside the club near the Ohio River, east of downtown Cincinnati, at the time.
“What we know at this point in the investigation is that several local men got into some type of dispute inside the bar, and it escalated into shots being fired from several individuals,” Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac said. It was not immediately clear how many people fired shots.
O’Bryan Spikes, 27, was killed and at least five victims remained in hospital yesterday morning. A University of Cincinnati Medical Center spokeswoman said two were in a critical condition and three were stable.
Club patron Mauricio Thompson described a chaotic scene in which as many as 20 shots were fired as people scrambled to get away. He said there was a fight and people were yelling for security to intervene before the gunfire began.
“Once I got outside, people coming out bloody, gunshot wounds on them, some of their friends carrying them to the car, rushing them to the hospital,” Thompson told WCPO-TV. “It was just crazy.”
Another patron told the television station she dropped to the ground outside the nightclub to dodge bullets, and her boyfriend climbed on top of her to protect her.
“I thought I was going to die. At that point survival skills started kicking in,” said Sherell, who preferred not to give her last name. “Once I heard the third shot — I didn’t know whether it was coming from outside, someone was shooting at the club, or whether it was coming from inside.”
Isaac said the club had its own security operation that used detection wands and pat-downs, but police believe several firearms somehow got inside.
Four officers were working security in the club’s parking lot and some tried unsuccessfully to revive the man who died.
The club has a history of gun violence, including a shooting inside the club on New Year’s Day in 2015 and one in the parking lot in September of that year, City Manager Harry Black said.
Four candles illuminated a makeshift memorial outside the club yesterday. A poster dedicated to Spikes said “R.I.P. Lucky” and “Father Son Uncle Brother!!”
The club’s operator said it will remain closed until the police probe and an internal investigation are completed.
Cameo’s Facebook page, which was later taken down, said it caters to college students on Friday nights, when anyone over 18 is allowed in, while Saturdays are “grown and sexy night” for ages 21 and older.
“Saturday night, it is a very young crowd. We have had incidents here in the past, but this is by far the worst,” Police Captain Kim Williams said.
Nightclub operator Jay Rodgers called the shooting “senseless.” “We will do everything in our power to cooperate and make sure the monsters that did this are caught and brought to justice,” he said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
