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Prosecutor: Cincinnati Officers "Were Heroic"

Bill Rinehart
/
WVXU
Officer Jennifer Chilton, (left), and an unidentified officer walk away from the Fifth Third Center minutes after the shooting.

Hamilton County's prosecutor says the four Cincinnati Police officers involved in a Fountain Square bank shooting did nothing wrong. Joe Deters says the officers acted heroically and saved lives when they shot and killed 29-year-old Omar Enrique Santa-Perez last week.

He opened fire in the Fifth Third Center lobby, killing three people and wounding two others.

Four officers, Jennifer Chilton, Antonio Etter, Eric Kaminsky, and Gregory Toyeas shot and killed the gunman minutes after he started firing. Deters says the evidence showed the shooting was justified and was overwhelming. The prosecutor says "we will never know how many people they saved that day."

Cincinnati Police released footage from Officer Chilton's body camera. Some might find the video disturbing.

Investigators say Santa-Perez was carrying about 250 rounds of ammunition, and fired 35 times before his 9mm handgun jammed.

Such an investigation is standard after a police involved shooting.

Bill Rinehart started his radio career as a disc jockey in 1990. In 1994, he made the jump into journalism and has been reporting and delivering news on the radio ever since.