Cincinnati Police have identified the man officers shot and killed Thursday night after a stabbing and a chase. Investigators say 48-year-old Juan Mack stabbed a woman in Westwood before leading officers to Over-the-Rhine. He was shot after threatening officers with a handgun.
At a press conference Friday, Chief Teresa Theetge released body camera footage. Officers can be heard commanding and pleading with Mack to drop his gun. Theetge says Mack was shouting things like, “I’m going to hell. I got a body on me,” referring to the stabbing.
A 911 caller on Parkcrest Lane said he saw a woman jump from Blue Honda, and run into his garage, with a man following. He said the man stabbed her “10 times.”
Theetge says officers spotted the Honda, and a blood-covered Mack, and tried to stop it.
“The officers already knew that he had stabbed a woman. They knew they had to stop him,” she says. “Then once they engaged in a vehicle pursuit, he points a firearm at the officers who are pursuing him.”
The vehicle pursuit ended at 12th and Elm Street when Mack got out of the car and started walking north.
Theetge says officers tried using nonlethal force, but it had no effect. Four officers fired a total of six shots at Mack. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
The officers’ names are not being immediately released, Theetge says, citing Marsy’s Law.
She offered condolences to Mack's family but called officers' actions heroic, adding: “This had all the makings of a catastrophic incident.”
People were streaming into Music Hall, to see the opening night of the Cincinnati Opera. Across the street was Washington Park, a popular place during the summer months.
"Sound tactics on this," she says. "Sound tactics."
Councilmember Scotty Johnson, a former police officer himself, says it's tragic, but police did everything they could to end it peacefully.
“Based on what I’ve seen, tactically, the police did everything they could,” he says. “And the fact of trying to preserve life, discharging 40-millimeter rounds, trying to prevent using deadly force, I think that tells the story right there.”
A sergeant used a 40-millimeter nonlethal projectile to try to stop Mack, firing a total of three times. The first round hit Mack. The second missed. The third was discharged as officers fired their weapons. It hit him.
The stabbing victim was listed in critical condition as of midday Friday. Her identity hasn't been released.
