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No Charges For Officer In Fatal Bank Robbery Shooting

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Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said charges will not be filed against an off-duty police officer in the death of a bank robber.

Officer Kevin Hankerson shot Terry Frost after the 20-year-old leapt over the counter at a Fifth-Third Branch in Madisonville, Wednesday. Frost was able to run out of the bank, and was found dead a short distance away.

Deters says he didn't need to take the case before a grand jury.

"When you enter a bank with what appears to be a weapon, vault over the top of the tellers' cage, approach a teller with your arm uplifted, in a shooting position… Officer Hankerson was absolutely justified in what he did that day."

Deters released bank security footage of the robbery attempt, Friday.  The video shows Frost running into the bank, jumping over the counter, and pointing a bag-covered gun at Officer Hankerson before he was shot.  The entire incident lasted less than 30 seconds.

"When you have a lethal threat, you can use lethal force in response, and that's what he did," Deters says.

Frost was carrying a gun, and Deters says it appears he tried to fire it.

Investigators say the gun was loaded with the wrong ammunition.

"It was as clean of a police involved shooting as I've ever seen.," Deters says. "And… our investigation has been concluded in terms of the officer involved."

Officer Hankerson is on administrative leave, which is standard policy after an officer-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.