CINCINNATI — A yet-unnamed Cincinnati police officer fatally shot 18-year-old Ryan Hinton the morning of May 1. The following day, Ryan's father allegedly crashed a car into former Hamilton County Sheriff's Deputy Larry Henderson, killing him.
Since then, social media posts have circulated that contain misinformation about the case — like claims that Rodney Hinton Jr. killed the officer who killed Ryan.
Henderson was a Hamilton County sheriff's deputy, while the still-unnamed officer who shot and killed Ryan was an officer with the Cincinnati Police Department.
WCPO has requested and is still waiting to receive Ryan Hinton's full autopsy report, additional body camera footage from CPD and traffic camera footage from the crash that killed Henderson.
Here's everything we know — and don't yet know — about the events that led up to the deaths of Ryan Hinton and Larry Henderson:
Thursday, May 1, 2025:
Shortly before 10 a.m. —
A Cincinnati police officer fired multiple shots, two of which hit and killed 18-year-old Ryan Hinton.
Roughly 10 a.m. —
Cincinnati Police Department Lt. Jonathan Cunningham sent out messages to media about the shooting: "CPD police involved shooting near the 2500 block of Warsaw Avenue. Please respond to the media staging area at 3201 Warsaw Avenue (Old Police District Three for updates. Again this incident is still unfolding and an active incident, please respond to the media staging area. Thank You."
WCPO sent multiple crews to East Price Hill, where police were still actively searching the area.
Shortly after 11 a.m. —
Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge held a press conference in the parking lot at the media staging area.
You can watch that entire press conference below:
During that press conference, Theetge said a CPD officer had shot and killed one person during a foot pursuit. Theetge said officers with the department's Fugitive Apprehension Squad, along with other uniformed officers, became aware of a stolen vehicle at the apartment complex on Warsaw.
When police approached the vehicle, four people ran from it, Theetge said. She said at least one of them was armed with a gun. Police chased the people who ran from the vehicle, and Theetge said one CPD officer discharged their weapon toward the person who had a gun, hitting and killing them. Theetge also said two of the other alleged suspects in the vehicle were arrested, and one remained at large.
Arrested that day were 19-year-old Deanthony Bullocks and 18-year-old Jurell Austin; both are charged with receiving stolen property and obstructing official business.
Roughly 7 p.m. —
Cincinnati police sent a press release to media, saying they would hold a press conference the following day at 11 a.m. to discuss more about the case.
Friday, May 2, 2025
Shortly after 9:30 a.m. —
Ryan's family, including his father Rodney Hinton Jr., viewed the body camera footage of a Cincinnati officer shooting and killing the 18-year-old. Michael Wright, one of the family's attorneys, said they spent about an hour and a half in Chief Theetge's office.
"What we saw was disturbing," said Wright, who was retained by Ryan's family to investigate the shooting.
Roughly 9:50 a.m. —
According to prosecutors, Rodney Hinton Jr. left the police station after watching the video.
During an interview with radio host Lincoln Ware on his show on 1230 AM "The Buzz," Theetge confirmed Rodney Hinton Jr. "walked out" while viewing the footage.
At 10:37 a.m. —
Rodney left the police station with other family members, and left his vehicle in the parking lot of the police station. From there, Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich said the family went to Findlay Market for food, though Rodney wouldn't eat. According to Pillich, the family all went to a home together, where Rodney took a nap.
Just after 11 a.m. —
Theetge held a press conference with media, showing clips of body camera footage from the shooting that killed Ryan.
The body camera footage was blurry and short — just six seconds elapsed between when the suspects jumped from the vehicle and when the officer fired at Ryan.
Clips and still images from officer body cameras show the people who were in the car scattered when police pulled in and trapped the suspected stolen vehicle with their cruisers.
You can watch that full press conference here:
Ryan tripped or slipped and fell briefly on a concrete pad near two dumpsters, a still picture from body camera footage appeared to show.
Theetge said officers saw Ryan carrying a gun; officers interviewed as part of the investigation into the shooting said they heard the metal of the gun hit the ground when he fell.
Ryan got back up and ran between the two dumpsters; an officer was already on the other side of the dumpsters with their gun drawn, footage showed. Theetge said another officer involved in the chase alerted the officer who fired his gun that Ryan was armed.
The officer who fired the shots can be heard saying "gun" before multiple gunshots ring out. As shots are being fired, Ryan appears to run into a short chain-link fence and fall forward over it.
Theetge said officials believe the officer fired roughly four to five shots; Ryan was hit by two of those bullets, according to Theetge.
At the time, Theetge said he was hit once in the chest, with the bullet exiting his back and once in the arm, with that bullet traveling through his arm and into his side. Weeks later, on May 19, Hamilton County Coroner Lakshmi Sammarco's release of some details from Ryan's autopsy contradicted some of these details.
Theetge said there is no indication that Ryan fired his gun at all during the encounter. Police did recover a handgun with an extended magazine near Ryan. A second magazine was found in his sweatshirt pocket, according to Theetge.
Theetge admitted during the press conference that the body camera footage is quick and difficult to see clearly because of the blurriness.
"The individual is running with a firearm in his hand, and the officer is running, so the body camera is jolting and what that leaves us with is a very blurred image, unfortunately," said Theetge.
Theetge said the officer who fired the shots said that when Ryan came through the dumpsters, the gun in his hand was pointed at the officer. The chief said the officer said he felt he was in danger.
"We do not expect the officers to wait until they're fired upon," said Theetge.
Here's why Cincinnati police released the body camera footage so quickly after the shooting:
The afternoon of Friday, May 2:
Around 12:50 p.m. —
According to prosecutors, Rodney Hinton Jr. returned to the police station and was seen leaving the parking lot.
Just after 1 p.m. —
WCPO's news desk began hearing police scanner traffic indicating an officer was down near the University of Cincinnati. We dispatched crews to Clifton to learn more information about what was happening.
Just before 1:30 p.m. —
Lt. Cunningham sent a message to media: "Traffic crash at 100 MLK Drive, media staging Bishop and MLK, please standby for updates."
At roughly 1:50 p.m. —
Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police President Ken Kober confirmed to WCPO that a sheriff's deputy working a traffic detail at that intersection was hit in the crash, but he had no word on how the deputy was doing.
Minutes later, a spokesperson with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office sent a message to media confirming that same information: "I can confirm that a Hamilton County Sheriff's Deputy was involved in a traffic accident in Clifton a short time ago. We are on scene and I will send more information once we have it available. I appreciate your patience."
At roughly 2:50 p.m. —
The Cincinnati Police Department, which WCPO later learned was the investigating agency for the crash, sent out a press release.
"CPD’s Traffic Unit is onscene of a single motor vehicle crash that occurred in the intersection of Martin Luther King Drive and Burnet Woods. As this single vehicle entered the intersection, struck a Hamilton County Sheriff’s Deputy who was outside of his vehicle operating the traffic light at the intersection. The Hamilton County Sheriff Deputy was transported to University Hospital and listed in critical condition. The driver of the single vehicle was transported to University Hospital and listed in critical condition. Press release from our Traffic Unit will be forthcoming this evening. No further information at this time."
At around 5 p.m. —
Cincinnati police sent out the PowerPoint presentation from Friday morning's press conference; that presentation contained the unedited six seconds of body camera footage shown in the morning.
At 5:30 p.m. —
Theetge hosted a press conference alongside Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey.
The police chief announced that the deputy had died, though she did not identify him.
Theetge also said the driver of the vehicle was the father of the person shot by a CPD officer the day prior on Thursday, May 1. At that point, officials had not released Ryan Hinton's identity — that was not made public until around 7 p.m. Friday evening.
You can watch that entire press conference in the player below:
At around 8 p.m. —
Cincinnati police sent out a press release announcing the arrest of 38-year-old Rodney Hinton Jr. That release said Rodney was the driver of the vehicle involved in the crash, and that police had charged him with aggravated murder.
Saturday, May 3:
At 9 a.m. —
Rodney Hinton Jr. appeared in court for his first arraignment; he did not appear severely injured and he walked into the courtroom without help.
At the hearing, dozens of law enforcement officers lined the walls of the courtroom.
The prosecution said in court that it is believed that Rodney "in a way that was calculated and premeditated, lined up his car, deliberately accelerated his car and purposely caused the death of an on-duty deputy sheriff."
The judge ordered that Rodney would be held without bail in the Clermont County jail until his bond hearing, set for Tuesday.
Just after 1 p.m. —
Cincinnati police announced they had arrested the fourth person who ran from the alleged stolen vehicle Thursday morning. Police said 18-year-old Cynsere Grigsby was also charged with receiving stolen property and felony obstruction of official business.
Sunday, May 4:
Around 5:30 p.m. —
WCPO received an announcement that identified the deputy who was killed.
The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office said that deputy was Larry Henderson, who had retired in December after 33 years of service.
The announcement included a statement from Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey:
"In Deputy Henderson’s early tenure as a Sheriff’s Deputy, I recognized his talent for teaching and presentation. Larry began his journey as a Sheriff’s Office trainer early in his career. He developed an expertise and became an excellent trainer. Subsequently, he trained divisions of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office that included hundreds of deputy sheriffs. His ability to relate to and touch officers’ lives was extraordinary. We will continue to honor Larry’s life of service."
Monday, May 5:
At 3 p.m. —
The Cochran Group and Ryan's family spoke at a press conference.
The firm was hired by the Hinton family to investigate Ryan's death further. During the press conference, attorneys and family echoed that desire.
"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," Wright said. "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. 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 the 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."
You can watch that full press conference in the player below:
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 every child in the family, teaching them different games and including them.
The Hinton family declined to answer any questions about Henderson or Rodney Hinton Jr., but they did offer their condolences and prayers to Henderson's family.
Ryan's grandfather, Rodney Hinton Sr., even said he'd been praying for the Cincinnati officer who shot his grandson. He said when he watched the body camera footage, he saw two people who were just scared.
"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."
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.
The Citizen Complaint Authority is also investigating the shooting.
Tuesday, May 5:
Around 9 a.m. —
Rodney Hinton Jr. appeared in court again Tuesday morning for a hearing about his bond. He was again surrounded by dozens of law enforcement officers who showed up in support of Henderson.
In the gallery, family and friends of Rodney were also present.
Court was paused briefly after an outburst from the gallery that resulted in one person being escorted from the courtroom.
"I just want to see my brother," a person could be heard yelling.
Cincinnati Police Department homicide detective Carl Beebe testified he believed Rodney appeared agitated before the crash. Beebe also said in court that Henderson was launched several feet in the air during the crash.
Prosecutors said in court that the state believes Rodney "ran over the first officer he saw."
The judge ordered that Rodney continue to be held in the Clermont County jail without bond.
Outside the courthouse, protesters gathered expressed support for Ryan and Rodney.
Thursday, May 8
Rodney Hinton Jr. was indicted on additional charges, including charges that carry the possibility of the death penalty.
He was initially charged with one count of aggravated murder. Then, a grand jury has indicted him on a second charge of aggravated murder and additional charges of murder, plus two counts of felonious assault.
According to Pillich, the aggravated murder charges both carry the possibility of the death penalty.
Friday, May 9
Deputy Larry Henderson was laid to rest.
Hundreds gathered for his funeral service at the Cintas Center on the campus of Xavier University.
The funeral included remarks from Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey. She spoke broadly about law enforcement to the crowd and the impact Henderson's death will have on his coworkers, friends and family.
"It is now in the brotherhood and sisterhood of our families that deputy Larry Henderson is with us and we are with him," said McGuffey. "Each of us knowing in our hearts we will never walk alone."
Lieutenant Dave Downing gave the eulogy for Henderson. Downing trained with Henderson, and for years was his commanding officer.
Downing highlighted Henderson's big heart and personality, playfully labeling him "different."
"His style was very unique, some may say unique and different," Downing said.
Henderson served for 33 years at the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. He began as a corrections officer and then became a patrol officer. He served as a dive team member and on the HCSO bomb unit.
He also worked part-time at Mercy Health Anderson Hospital and spent nearly 20 years volunteering to work security detail for the UC football team.
Monday, May 12
Rodney Hinton Jr. filed a lawsuit suing the City of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Police Department, the Hamilton County Justice Center, the state of Ohio and 10 John Doe officers.
Rodney claims his Fourth, Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated.
That lawsuit was filed by Antoinette Holloway, on behalf of Rodney Hinton Jr. She is not a licensed attorney, and Rodney is representing himself in the matter.
The lawsuit claims that when Rodney was arrested, "he was subjected to excessive force resulting in visible injuries."
The lawsuit also claims that the decision to deny Rodney bond is a violation of the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution and Ohio's pretrial procedure.
"At his arraignment, Mr. Hinton appeared visibly beaten, handcuffed and dressed in jail attire, signaling to the court and public that he was guilty — despite having not been convicted," reads the lawsuit.
Rodney was dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit during his arraignment, which is not typical procedure; most people who appear for arraignment in Hamilton County's Room A are still dressed in the clothing they were wearing when they were arrested.
Friday, May 16
The Cincinnati Black United Front hosted a Zoom call in which community members with the Cincinnati Collaborative Agreement tuned in to hear Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge address questions about Hinton's death.
During that call, Theetge answered questions asked by those community members.
You can read the full Q&A between the community and Theetge here.
Saturday, May 17
Ryan Hinton was laid to rest.
His funeral was held at Living God Church on Saturday morning. The family requested media stay across the street and remain a respectful distance from mourners, so our coverage of the ceremonies was limited.
However, The Cochran Group told us that members of the family spoke at the service. Members of the public were invited to attend, but space at the church was limited.
The visitation began at 11 a.m. and funeral services began at noon.
The family did not want to speak with media before or after the funeral.
Monday, May 19
Hamilton County Coroner Lakshmi Sammarco released preliminary information on the autopsy of Ryan Hinton.
Sammarco said Ryan had three gunshot wounds — though she couldn't say whether two of those gunshot wounds were caused by the same bullet or not.
One gunshot wound was through his left forearm, and only damaged soft tissue in his arm, Sammarco said.
Another gunshot wound was found in his left side, under his armpit. That wound was what killed him, Sammarco said. That bullet traveled through his chest, hit the seventh rib, went through the left ventricle of his heart and exited through his sternum, according to the coroner.
A third gunshot wound was found in his right "postero-lateral chest" adjacent to his shoulder, Sammarco said. That bullet traveled beneath the skin and only damaged soft tissue; Sammarco said that bullet came to stop just beneath the base of the skull, and the coroner's office was able to retrieve it.
She said it is possible the bullet that went through Ryan's arm also went into and through his side, but she said the coroner's office can't say for sure if that's the case, since that bullet was not found by her office. She said they only found fragments of that bullet in Ryan's body.
Ryan was not shot in the back, Sammarco said.
The name of the Cincinnati police officer who shot and killed Ryan Hinton still hasn't been released
As of the publication of this article on Tuesday, May 5, the Cincinnati Police Department has not released the name of the officer who shot Ryan Hinton.
Theetge has declined to identify any of the officers who were on scene on May 1, including the officer who fired shots, citing Marsy's Law.
Marsy's Law is intended to protect victims of crimes.
Ohio voters approved Marsy's Law as a state constitutional amendment in 2017. According to the Ohio constitution, it guarantees victims of crimes certain rights, including:
- To be treated with fairness and respect for the victim's safety, dignity and privacy
- Upon request, to reasonable and timely notice of all public proceedings involving the criminal offense or delinquent act against the victim, and to be present at all such proceedings
- To be heard in any public proceeding involving release, plea, sentencing, disposition, or parole, or in any public proceeding in which a right of the victim is implicated
- To reasonable protection from the accused or any person acting on behalf of the accused
- Upon request, to reasonable notice of any release or escape of the accused
- Except in certain cases, to refuse an interview, deposition, or other discovery request made by the accused or any person acting on behalf of the accused
- To full and timely restitution from the person who committed the criminal offense or delinquent act against the victim
- To proceedings free from unreasonable delay and a prompt conclusion of the case;
- Upon request, to confer with the attorney for the government
- To be informed, in writing, of all rights enumerated in this section.
The law further defines a "victim" as "a person against whom a criminal offense or delinquent act is committed, or who is directly and proximately harmed by the commission of the offense or act."
Cincinnati Police Department's policy on discharging firearms
WCPO pulled documents on CPD's policies and protocols regarding an officer firing their gun during an encounter with suspects.
"Police officers may not use deadly force merely to prevent escape in misdemeanor cases," reads the policy. "The use of deadly force to prevent escape of felony suspects is constitutionally unreasonable except where the escape presents an immediate risk of death or serious physical harm to another.
"Where the suspect poses no immediate threat of death or serious physical harm to others, the harm resulting from failing to apprehend him does not justify the use of deadly force to do so. If an officer uses unnecessary and/or excessive force, or acts wantonly and maliciously, he could be found guilty of assault, even of culpable homicide if he kills a the person he is attempting to arrest."
You can read the department's policy in full below:
