A sheriff’s deputy died when he was allegedly run over by a man whose son had been shot dead by a different police officer the day before.
Rodney Hinton Jr, 38, is accused of deliberately hitting the officer, who was managing traffic at a graduation ceremony for the University of Cincinnati in Ohio.
The incident took place on Friday, a day after Hinton’s 18-year-old son Ryan was killed during the investigation of a stolen vehicle, according to Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge.
She urged the local community to ‘keep calm’ after the two incidents, the Mail Online reported.
Theetge said: ‘I do have a plea to everybody: Let the processes play out, let the investigations play out.’
Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police Ken Kober made clear the strength of feeling among local officers after the collision.
He said: ‘This horrific and intentional murder of a Hamilton County law enforcement officer is one of the worst things that I’ve ever seen in my career.
‘There’s no room for anything less than the death penalty and we call on Prosecutor Pillich to confirm she will seek it.’
Connie Pillich, the county prosecutor, said she would ‘throw the full force of the law at the perpetrator’ if the facts proved the crash was deliberate.
Theetge explained four officers had visited an apartment complex on Thursday, and located the stolen vehicle which had four people inside it.
They got out and scattered, and blurry footage from a body-worn camera shows Ryan Hinton appear to trip and fall.
One of the officers fired four shots, two of which hit the teenager.
Theetge said: ‘He [the officer] felt threatened for his life. And that’s why he discharged his firearm.’
According to local Fox affiliate WXIX, more than 30 members of the sheriff’s office crowded into the Hamilton County Courtroom where Hinton, 38, was appearing.
He was held without bond at the Clermont County Jail until his next court hearing on Tuesday.
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