CINCINNATI — The family of 18-year-old Ryan Hinton, who was fatally shot by a Cincinnati police officer on Thursday, May 1, held a press conference on Monday to express their love for Ryan and to raise questions about his death.
Several of Ryan's family members spoke during the press conference, many of whom urged the community to wait for further investigation before rushing to judgment.
"I seen two scared people," said Ryan's grandfather, Rodney Hinton Sr. "I seen the officer scared and I seen my grandson scared. So it's an unfortunate incident that happened, but that's all I seen. I didn't see the police there trying to kill, kill, kill, no. What I seen was two persons made a mistake. My grandson made a mistake in being there and the officer, he was trying to get back to his family too. So that's what I seen."
Hear more from Rodney Hinton Sr. below:
Michael Wright, one of the attorneys with The Cochran Firm who is representing Ryan's family, said his office is working to conduct their own investigation into the shooting.
"On Friday morning, we met with the police chief of Cincinnati and we viewed the body cam video of what happened with the shooting with Ryan," said Wright. "We stayed at the chief's office for about an hour and a half and what we saw was disturbing."
Wright pointed out that Cincinnati police only showed the body camera footage of one officer — the one who fired the shots that killed Ryan Hinton. He said his office has requested to see all body camera footage from that morning, and other public records that could help them analyze what happened. WCPO 9 has also requested that body camera footage.
"We believe that this incident should be investigated," said Wright. "It's not as cut and dry as this officer should have pulled out his gun and shot Ryan, it's not that cut and dry."
Ryan's grandmother, Tonya Larkin, said she doesn't believe the shooting should have happened.
"I can't even express how I feel right now about — I'm angry, because it shouldn't have ever happened," said Larkin. "I want to find out exactly what steps was taken and the protocol. And if everything comes out that it's not what it should have been, we need to do something about change and training and diversity and understanding us as a Black culture."
Larkin called Ryan a "sweet, gentle giant" who always had time for his siblings and often spent time playing video games with them. She said he made it a point to play with each and every child in the family, teaching them different games and including them.
Hear more from Tonya Larkin in the player below:
"We as Black people, we don't deserve to be killed just because we're running away from the police," said Larkin. "We're scared just as much as they are, whether we did something right or wrong. This is everyday life for us, being scared of the police."
Another member of the family's legal team, Fanon Rucker, said lawyers plan to look closely into the shooting to scrutinize whether Cincinnati Police Department's policies were appropriately followed.
"Certainly some people say 'well, he was doing bad stuff,'" said Rucker. "Even assuming the truth of that, there's procedures and there are policies that require those who hold life and death in their hands to move in particular ways."
Hear more from Fanon Rucker below:
Rucker said they aren't trying to decide Ryan's innocence or guilt in the moments before the shooting — they're only looking at whether or not the officer who shot him properly followed procedure and protocol.
"We are looking for the answer through our investigation of whether or not it was proper, whether or not the policies were followed appropriately and whether or not, by law and by facts that that tragic death was considered in the eyes of the law as justifiable," said Rucker. "I can promise you under no circumstance are the family members who are here will ever believe that it was justifiable."
Wright said there's plenty of healing that needs to happen all around, and he urged people to give the investigation time. He said they don't know what next steps will be, but he said it's possible it could be filing a lawsuit; Wright said they are working to get all the information they can before making any determinations.
Watch the full press conference in the player below:
One day after Ryan was fatally shot, his father, Rodney Hinton Jr., allegedly crashed a vehicle into retired Hamilton County Sheriff's Deputy Larry Henderson while he was directing traffic during commencement at the University of Cincinnati. Ryan's family declined to speak about Henderson's death, other than to offer prayers and condolences to his family and loved ones.
Cincinnati police showed family members of Ryan Hinton the CPD body camera footage on the morning of Friday, May 2. After they saw it, Cincinnati police held a press conference to release the footage to the public.
That body camera footage showed a Cincinnati officer chasing the 18-year-old before firing multiple shots. Theetge said Ryan was hit by two bullets — one that went through his arm and into his side, and another that went through his chest and out his back.
Hours later, Rodney Hinton Jr. allegedly drove his vehicle into Henderson at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Burnet Woods, where Henderson was working a traffic detail. Henderson died from his injuries, Theetge announced later on Friday.
Rodney Hinton Jr. appeared in court Saturday morning, with dozens of deputies packing the room to show support for their former colleague. Hinton is being held in Clermont County Jail without bail until his next hearing on Tuesday.
Rodney Hinton Jr. has been charged with aggravated murder for the death of Henderson.
