Friday, May 2: CPD Chief Teresa Theetge walks reporters through the body camera footage of a CPD officer who fatally shot an armed suspect who was running from officers in East Price Hill on May 1. Photo: Madeline Fening

City officials gathered Friday to provide more details on the fatal shooting of a man by a Cincinnati Police officer in East Price Hill on Thursday.

Keep scrolling for body camera video from the incident.
CPD Chief Teresa Theetge walked reporters through the incident from first contact to the fatal shooting, which she said lasted “six quick seconds.”

What happened?

It all started around 10 a.m. Thursday, when CPD officers and the department’s Fugitive Apprehension Squad responded to an apartment complex near the 2500 block of Warsaw Avenue for reports of a stolen Kia. Theetge said the car was stolen out of Edgewood, Kentucky that same day. The owner tracked it to the parking lot with the car’s GPS; Theetge said the owner of the Kia reported the location to police.

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According to Theetge, two undercover cars pulled into the dead end of the apartment complex parking lot where they identified the stolen Kia and saw people inside the car. Those officers then pulled out to make way for the uniformed officers to pull in; this is a “tactical” decision to allow the officers to position their vehicles as shields, Theetge said.

Then, as the uniformed officers approached the stolen Kia, Theetge said four people exited the car and started to run. One was armed with a firearm.

“The officers decide which individual they’re going to pursue,” Theetge said of the video footage. “One officer decides to pursue the individual who we now know had a firearm in his hand. The other officer pursued another occupant that fled from the vehicle.”

Officers ended up arresting two of the men who fled the car, but one remains at large. The armed suspect was chased by an officer who alerted another officer of the weapon, according to Theetge. “He’s got a gun, he’s got a gun, on your right,” the officer is heard yelling on body camera footage.

After tripping and dropping his gun and picking it back up, Theetge said the suspect ran between two dumpsters, positioning him near the other officer who ended up shooting and killing the suspect.

Blurry footage, critical seconds

Body camera footage shows the split-second decision of the officer to fire five shots at the suspect, striking him twice, according to Theetge: once through the chest and once through the arm and into his side. She said the officer fired his weapon when he saw the suspect point his gun at him, but this is difficult to see in the shaky body camera video.

“The officer is running, so the body camera’s kind of jolting as the officer’s running,” Theetge said. “What that leaves us with is very blurred image, unfortunately. However, based on the officer’s interviews, the officer who did discharge his firearm said when the individual came out between the dumpsters, he had the firearm in front of him, he’s in like a bladed position, and it was pointed at the officer, and he felt threatened for his life, and that’s why he discharged his firearm.”

Watch the video below:

Theetge confirmed the man who was shot never fired his gun at any time. When pressed by reporters on the protocol for armed suspects who are running away from police, Theetge said officers have an overall responsibility to prevent violence.

“This is where we have to go to the state of mind of the officer at the time,” she said. “What are they seeing, feeling, hearing; if they feel like their life, or somebody else’s life is in danger, they have a responsibility to stop that threat.”

Identifying the suspects

Investigators still don’t know the identity of the man who was shot and killed by the officer, but they describe him as a Black male, around 18 years old. Theetge identified the two people who were arrested as 19-year-old Deanthony Bullocks and 18-year-old Jurell Austin.

Both Bullocks and Austin face felony charges for obstructing official business and receiving stolen property.

Investigators don’t know the identity of the suspect still at large.

The investigation

As is mandated in the city’s Collaborative Agreement, there will be two parallel investigations into the shooting by the Citizen’s Complaint Authority and CPD. That bilateral investigation is ongoing.

“Let me be very direct: We cannot allow individuals to flee from officers with a loaded firearm aimed at them,” Theetge said. “When this happens, the outcome is almost always tragic. No one wins, and everyone involved is affected.”

Ken Kober, union president of CPD’s Fraternal Order of Police, said the officer had no choice but to fire upon the suspect.

“Police officers around the country are trained to defend their lives and use deadly force when a suspect points a gun at them,” Kober said in a statement released Thursday. “While no officer wants to be forced to use deadly force, every Cincinnati police officer wants to make it home to their families at the end of their shift.”

Follow CityBeat’s staff news writer Madeline Fening on Instagram. Got a news tip? Email mfening@citybeat.com.

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This article appears in Apr 30 – May 13, 2025.