The father of an 18-year-old who was fatally shot by police during an alleged stolen vehicle incident in Cincinnati on Thursday has been charged with hitting a deputy with his car and killing him, with the police chief saying the two fatal encounters are connected.
Rodney L. Hinton, 38, is accused of intentionally hitting Hamilton County Sheriff’s Deputy Larry Henderson Friday afternoon at Martin Luther King Drive and Burnet Woods Drive near the University of Cincinnati, according to court documents. Henderson was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center where he died as a result of his injuries.
The recently retired deputy was working as a special deputy and directing traffic near the university during graduation events, officials said at a news briefing Friday. Officials did not identify him, citing Marsy’s Law, which protects victim's names from being disclosed due to privacy protections.
“He was so well liked and so well known, we could fill this building with the law enforcement agencies that respect him, love him, his friends, his family,” Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey said at the briefing. “We are so deeply saddened.”
Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge said there was a definite connection between this incident and Thursday’s police shooting of 18-year-old Ryan Hinton, whom she identified as Hinton’s son.
The 18-year-old was fatally shot by a Cincinnati police officer who responded to a report of a stolen vehicle at an apartment complex at 2500 Warsaw Ave. around 9 a.m. Thursday morning, according to police.
The incident occurred in a parking lot at the end of a long driveway, Theetge said at another news briefing Friday. The vehicle was allegedly stolen from northern Kentucky earlier Thursday morning.
Two officers in police vehicles responded to the area to apprehend the four people who were in the car, according to Theetge. All four of them began to run, some in different directions, when approached by police — prompting the two officers to pursue Hinton and another individual, Theetge said.
Hinton was armed, Theetge said.
Body camera footage shared by the Cincinnati Police Department and reviewed by NBC News shows an officer exiting his vehicle and aiming his gun at the 18-year-old, who appeared to be running away. The officer fired at least four times, according to Theetge, and the 18-year-old fell to the ground. It’s not clear from body camera footage if Hinton had aimed a firearm at officers.
“Get the f--- down,” the officer could be heard saying afterward. Theetge said she believes Ryan was hit by two bullets, in the chest and the arm.
Footage from the second officer’s body camera shows the officer running toward the first officer and the 18-year-old while warning fellow officers that someone is armed.
“He’s got a gun! He’s got a gun on your right! On your right!” the officer could be heard saying.
The gun that Ryan Hinton allegedly had with him was recovered from the scene following the shooting, along with a loaded extended magazine, Theetge said. A second magazine was also allegedly found in his jacket pocket.
Theetge defended the officer’s shooting of Hinton, saying officers are “often compelled to make split-second decisions to protect others and themselves when faced with immediate threats.” The shooting is under investigation.
“Let me be very direct: We cannot allow individuals to flee from officers with a loaded firearm aimed at them,” she said. “When this happens, the outcome is almost always tragic. No one wins, and everyone involved is affected.”
Theetge said in the briefing that the officer who shot Hinton said the 18-year-old had the gun pointed at him, causing him to fear for his life. Hinton did not fire his gun, Theetge said, adding, “We do not expect the officers to wait until they’re fired upon before they feel the necessity to fire.”
The 18-year-old's family hired attorneys to conduct an investigation into the fatal shooting. On Friday, the family, including Rodney Hinton, and their attorneys, attended a meeting with the Cincinnati Police Department to watch the body camera footage, according to a statement from a spokesperson for the Cochran Firm. After the meeting, the distraught father left in his own car, which is when the incident involving the deputy happened, the spokesperson said.
Theetge did not identify the officers involved in the fatal shooting incident, citing privacy laws, but said that one of the officers joined the Cincinnati Police Department in 2014 while the other joined in 2001. Both were assigned to the fugitive apprehension squad.
Theetge said the entire incident lasted six seconds.
“Six quick seconds,” she said, adding that the officers tried to administer medical aid to Hinton until first responders arrived.
Two of the other suspects involved in the alleged car theft were identified as 18-year-old Jurell Austin and 19-year-old DeAnthony Bullucks, who have been charged with receiving stolen property and felony obstructing official business, according to Theetge. A third suspect is still at large.
The car incident involving Rodney Hinton and the deputy is still under investigation, with Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich promising to "throw the full force of the law" at him if the incident is proven to be intentional. A procession will be held in honor of the deputy who was killed.
In a statement, Attorney General Dave Yost called the deputy's death "a cruel reminder of the many officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf."
"My deepest condolences are with this deputy’s family and the entire Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office," Yost said.
Hinton was charged with aggravated murder in connection with Henderson's death. He appeared in court Saturday, where a judge set no bond ahead of a hearing on Tuesday, WLWT reported. He is being held at Clermont County Jail, according to online records.
Attorneys for Hinton declined to comment.
