Authorities still don’t have full insight into the motive for last year’s devastating mass shooting at Fifth Third Bank on Fountain Square that killed three and wounded two. But there may be some clues.
Cincinnati Police this week released a summary of their investigation into the September 2018 shooting by Omar Santa Perez. Among their findings: just before the shooting, Perez learned via a phone call with a lawyer that his lawsuit against two large corporations had been dismissed.
In her June 2018 filing dismissing the suit, federal magistrate Karen Litkovitz wrote that Perez’s lawsuit against TD Ameritrade Holdings and CNBC Universal Media alleging the companies were surveilling him was “rambling” and “borders on delusional.” Perez found out about that dismissal after calling a lawyer for NBC on Sept. 5, 2018 — one day before he opened fire in Fifth Third’s lobby.
Litkovitz worked out of the federal courthouse across Walnut Street from Fifth Third at the time. According to The Cincinnati Enquirer, Perez is shown on surveillance footage approaching the courthouse via the skybridge over Walnut Street before going on to shoot and kill Richard Newcomer, Prudhvi Raj Kandepi and Luis Felipe Calderon at Fifth Third. Police shot and killed Perez moments afterward.
Perez had a history of mental health issues, according to CPD”s report, and was prescribed medication for those issues in 2008. The report concludes CPD’s investigation into the shootings.
This article appears in Sep 25 – Oct 2, 2019.