CINCINNATI -- A 19-year-old accused of pretending to shoot children walking along the street in West Price Hill and posting video of the prank on Facebook has been arrested.
Police arrested and Anthony Banks, 19, and charged him with aggravated menacing and inducing panic.
The minute-long cellphone footage of the incident was posted Tuesday, Sept. 13 and shows a man, believed to be Banks, waving a gun out the rear window of a car speeding down Ross Avenue between Glenway and Warsaw avenues. In the video, children and adults are seen diving out of what they believe is a potential line of fire.
Anthony Banks
Watch the video in the player above. WARNING: Video contains graphic imagery and language.
"It's not a joke to us," said Cincinnati Police Commander Aaron Jones. "These individuals put fear and chaos into the hearts of these citizens and we're taking it very seriously."
The gun clicks more than a dozen times as Banks cackles wildly for about 30 seconds, saying "they (expletive) mad as hell."
Jones said early this month it was impossible to tell, from the video alone, if the gun shown was real or fake.
"The citizens that were on the street believed it was real and they're running for cover," he said. "Someone who is in fear of their life could have taken appropriate action to defend themselves."
This incident came just as police in Columbus shot and killed a 13-year-old boy who they said pulled a gun from his waistband, which was later determined to be a BB gun.
"What occurred is just unacceptable, completely unacceptable," Jones said of the Price Hill incident. "To put citizens in fear that way and to laugh and joke about it afterward? Unbelievable."
