CINCINNATI — A 22-year-old man was hospitalized Saturday night after a shooting at The Banks, Cincinnati police Lt. Jonathan Cunningham said.
The shooting happened just before 10:30 p.m. near Ruth's Chris Steak House along E Freedom Way. Cunningham said the 22-year-old had non-life-threatening injuries.
He did not say if CPD has anyone in custody for the shooting.
WCPO spoke with the victim, identified as Andre Harris, over the phone Sunday afternoon.
Harris explained that he arrived at the banks Saturday night after going to a concert and had left his wallet inside the Corner Stone Market earlier that night.
After retrieving his wallet from the market and leaving the store, a man with a face mask approached him and quickly raised a gun, pointing it directly at Harris.
"He just walked right past me, looked around, and started shooting," Harris said. "There was no interaction."
Harris said he had a gun - with a legal permit - and raised it in self-defense.
"He (the shooter) fired first," said Harris.
Harris said he thought the gunman fired two shots, but he said police and witnesses claim the gunman fired four times.
Harris said he was shot once in his right foot and that part of the bullet is still in his foot. He said it felt like a bee sting when he was shot, but now it feels like his foot was hit by a sledgehammer.
A surveillance video shared by the owner of Street Corner Market shows Harris running away after three shots ring out. Harris can be seen with his gun in his hand before cops quickly arrive, tell him to drop his weapon and he gets down on the ground before officers put handcuffs on him. Harris then tells police he had been shot in the foot.
Watch the full surveillance video below:
Harris said that he was upset that his shooter got away and he was the one who was ordered to the ground and handcuffed. "It was unfortunate. I was kind of pissed off. I was the one that had been shot and victimized. But at least they were able to get the situation under control pretty fast," Harris said.
Harris explained that he can't remember what the gunman looks like or why he was targeted.
"It could have been a case of mistaken identity," Harris said. "I have no reason to feel like anyone would target me. I have not one clue why someone would target me."
The owner of Street Corner Market told WCPO that officers were present around The Banks at the time of the shooting and responded quickly once gunshots were fired.
E Freedom Way was shut down for a few hours while police investigated the shooting. Other than Ruth's Chris, the street is home to several other popular bars and restaurants between Great American Ball Park and Paycor Stadium.
Leslie Kidd told WCPO she heard the gunshots while she was walking with friends up to The Banks from the riverfront.
"Everybody started running. We saw everybody start running, so we picked up our pace," Kidd said.
