Hamilton County Coroner Lakshmi Sammarco Monday released preliminary autopsy results for Ryan Hinton, the 18-year-old a Cincinnati Police officer shot and killed May 1.
Sammarco said Hinton had three bullet wounds. One was a flesh wound in his left forearm. Another entered his left side near his armpit, hit his left ventricle and a rib before exiting his body near his sternum.
She believes this was the lethal wound. Sammarco said those wounds could have been caused by one or two rounds.
Another round entered Hinton "postero-lateral," Sammarco said, adjacent to the back of his shoulder. That was a flesh wound only and the round stopped just below his skull.
"I want to start off with our condolences to the grieving families," she said. "This is not easy for anybody. No matter what family you are, there are victims in this and they're not just the people who have passed away."
Hinton's family has commissioned its own investigation, including a private autopsy. They have not released information from that investigation yet, saying they haven't been provided key information they've requested from the coroner and the city of Cincinnati.
"At first glance, it appears that the information provided by Cincinnati's Police Chief during her press conference on May 2 is inconsistent with what the Hamilton County Coroner presented today," the Hinton family's attorneys wrote in a statement following Sammarco's news conference.
Sammarco declined to share information from toxicology reports or other details at this point, saying those need more time and will be released in a final autopsy report.
Hinton was fleeing a car reported stolen in Price Hill May 1 when an officer fired five rounds at him. At a news conference following the shooting, Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge said one round hit Hinton in the chest and another in his arm and side. Officers rendered aid, but Hinton died shortly after at a nearby hospital.
Sammarco clarified during her news conference that her findings don't necessarily contradict the police account about Hinton being shot in the chest.
"[It was] just below the armpit," she said. "So it's still considered the chest, just the side of the chest."
Police say Hinton was armed with a semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine and that he pointed the gun at an officer shortly before he was shot.
Body camera footage shows Hinton falling as one officer chases him, then getting up and running between two dumpsters. The pursuing officer yells, "Gun! Gun! He's got a gun!" A second officer, the one wearing the body camera, shoots Hinton very shortly after he emerges from between the dumpsters. It's unclear in the footage if Hinton is carrying or pointing a weapon.
Sammarco initially scheduled a news conference to release autopsy results last week, but a grand jury subpoena caused the coroner's office to cancel that.
"In my 13 years as a coroner I've never been served with a grand jury subpoena," she said. "This was new territory and we had to learn some things and ask some questions."
Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich issued a statement last week explaining the grand jury request.
"This is the normal procedure," Pillich said. "We want a complete and thorough investigation in which we gather all of the information before reaching a decision on how to move forward."
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