Man smashes mall jewelry display with hammer, prompting active-shooter response
CINCINNATI OH June 11 2018
A man smashed a hammer into a jewelry display at Kenwood Mall, prompting a massive police response Wednesday afternoon.
Officials with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office said that a man entered the mall and smashed a hammer into a display at Stafford Jewelers.
“A lot of people were screaming and we didn’t know what was happening so we called 911,” said one shopper who was only identified as Tatum.
It happened around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Montgomery Road mall.
Officials received several 911 calls from shoppers who thought the loud smashing sounds were gunshots.
“There is a live shooter outside of the Nordstrom where the Ebar is,” one caller said. “They are shooting right inside the mall. Right next to Nordstrom.”
“I was in a store and there was a stampede of people running out,” another caller said.
That prompted an active-shooter response from Hamilton County deputies, as several police vehicles swarmed the mall.
The hammer-wielding man was gone before deputies could arrive.
Investigators said he was unable to smash through the jewelry display and ran from the store empty-handed.
Officials described him as a black man, around 30 years old, last seen wearing black clothes and a black scarf on his head.
The incident is being investigated as an attempted theft and criminal damaging.
