CINCINNATI -- A gunman walked into the lobby of Fifth Third Center Thursday morning with a 9 mm handgun and a briefcase stuffed with 200 rounds of ammunition.
He fired his first shot at 9:06 a.m., and he fired 34 more rounds in less than five minutes before police officers shot him through the glass facade, Chief Eliot Isaac said.
The gunman, Omar Santa-Perez, killed three people before police shot him dead. Richard Newcomer, 64; Prudhvi Raj Kandepi , 25 and Luis Felipe Calderón, 48, all died in the shooting. Two others were also injured, including Fifth Third Vice President Whitney Austin.
Members of the Cincinnati Police Department, along with city officials, provided new information about the Fifth Third Center shooting during a news conference Friday morning.
Santa-Perez legally bought the gun, a Taurus 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, on Aug. 2 at Point Blank on the West Side, Isaac said. He said he did not know where or when Santa-Perez bought the ammunition.
Isaac: Gunman legally bought gun at Point Blank on the West Side. https://t.co/kdQhcnvHU5 @WCPO pic.twitter.com/cqey7lIg9Q
— Abby Anstead (@AbbyAnstead) September 7, 2018
The two victims who were hurt are being treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. One patient is listed in fair condition as of Friday morning; the other is still listed in serious condition, according to a hospital spokesperson.
Isaac said Santa-Perez entered the Fifth Third Center through a side door, near the Potbelly Sandwich Shop, and began firing shots in the lobby.
Officer Jennifer Chilton, Officer Antonio Etter, Officer Eric Kaminsky, and Police Specialist Gregory Toyeas engaged in a shootout with Santa-Perez. Authorities fired a total of 11 rounds, Isaac said, but it’s not yet known which police officer struck Santa-Perez.
The police officers have been placed on administrative leave pending the investigation.
RELATED:
- Everything we know about the shooting
- What we know about the gunman
- What we know about the victims
- Mayor: Officers at shooting ran into a gun fight
- Witness: 'He was 4 meters away from me, shooting'
- Timeline: How the shooting unfolded
- Could Downtown shooting launch a PR crisis?
- See our editorial cartoon
- View images from the scene
