Unarmed bank security officers rescued victims of active shooter
CINCINNATI OH Sept 8 2018— Cincinnati police released body camera and security camera video Friday that shows a 29-year-old shooter wreak havoc inside Fifth Third Center Thursday morning.
Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac said Omar Santa-Perez, 29, walked into the Downtown building dressed in business attire and holding a 9 mm handgun when he opened fire at 9:06 a.m.
In the first few moments of the security camera video, unarmed security officers stationed inside Fifth Third Center are seen guiding people to safety — seconds before being in Santa-Perez’s line of vision.
He was “firing shots at anyone” he saw, Isaac said.
One security officer helped a man stand up, and led the man to safety with his own back toward the direction of the shooter. Isaac called the security officers’ actions “heroic.”
Isaac said Santa-Perez fired 35 rounds in four minutes and 28 seconds. The video shows several members of the public and employees of the building running and hiding for cover as the shooter paced back and forth, firing the weapon in multiple directions.
Officers quickly responded to the building and fired about 11 rounds through the building’s plate glass entrance, killing Santa-Perez almost instantly.
According to the security camera video, Santa-Perez turned and fired as Cincinnati police officers fired at him from outside of the building. The video shows Santa-Perez fall face forward when he was struck by police gunfire.
Video from an officer’s body camera shows officers huddled near the entrance of Fifth Third Center, before firing their weapons at Santa-Perez. The 29-year-old was down when the first Cincinnati officer reached the door of the building, Isaac said.
“With the assistance from the SWAT team, officers conducted a sweep of the building and surrounding area and secured the scene,” he said.
Isaac said the shooter was carrying more than 200 rounds of ammunition in a briefcase. Fire personnel determined he was dead at the scene, he said.
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