CINCINNATI -- Police shot and killed a man following a domestic dispute in Springfield Township Sunday night and two other shootings in Cincinnati sent two men into surgery. One of those men later died from his injuries.
The Springfield Township police chief said a gun was recovered at the scene of the domestic dispute in the 900 block of Twincrest Court around 8:15 p.m. Sunday, but the events that led the officer to open fire on John McLaughlin were still under investigation.
According to a police log, eight or nine shots were fired in the incident. The log and two 911 calls obtained by WCPO indicate the dispiute started as an argument between McLaughlin, his wife and the wife's friend. One call was from the woman who identified herself as a friend of the wife. "It was physical, but now it's just verbal and he's throwing her stuff out," she said in the call.
The second 911 call came from McLaughlin himself, who was still inside the home. He told police:
"Yeah my wife, yeah, we've been having problems for months, and now her friend is over here. And I'm just, we're, I'm tossing her stuff out. She just needs to go, and if her friend keeps coming up here arguing, then there's a problem.
"It's all verbal. We were yelling and then her friend was yelling back at me and I'm tossing her stuff out and I'm done. It's been months and it needs to end now."
Chief Browder said when officers arrived, they found the two women outside the home. Browder said McLaughlin displayed a handgun when they went inside the home to speak with him.
Police are not commenting on whether McLaughlin fired any of the gunshots or if they all came from officers.
The two officers involved were placed on leave pending an investigation.
"There will be an extensive investigation that will take a good period of time," Browder said.
Police said they were still looking into the couple's history. Neighbors said they couldn't recall any fighting before -- learning of McLaughlin's death, nearby resident Linda McCollum said, was the most she had ever heard from or about the couple.
"(They kept) very much to themselves," McCollum said. "They didn't mix with anybody in the neighborhood."
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In the Cincinnati shootings:
- A man was shot in the torso in the 2300 block of Kenton Street in Walnut Hills, police said. A witness reported that a silver car with dark rims drove off after the shooting.
- Police found 27-year-old Deandre Berry with a gunshot wound to the head on the sidewalk near Ruth and Woodburn in Evanston around 9:42 p.m. Sunday.
Deandre Berry
Both men were undergoing surgery at University of Cincinnati Medical Center, police said. Berry later died from his injuries, and an investigation by the CPD Homicide Unit is ongoing.
Anyone with information about this homicide is asked to call the Criminal Investigation Section at (513) 352-3542 or CRIMESTOPPERS at (513) 352-3040 or text “CINTIP” plus your message to CRIMES (274637). Callers may remain anonymous and may receive compensation for their information.
Another shooting investigation this time on Ruth Avenue @WCPO pic.twitter.com/4kxtJ8hijh
— Andy Overton (@theandyoverton) January 2, 2017
WCPO will update this story as more information becomes available.
