A police cruiser struck a shooting victim, who later died
A Springfield, Ohio, man has died after reportedly being shot by an assailant and then accidentally struck by a police cruiser that was responding to the scene, according to officials. When the first officer arrived they were "involved in an accident with the shooting victim, later identified as Eric Eugene Cole," Springfield police said in a statement Tuesday. When the first officer arrived they were "involved in an accident with the shooting victim, later identified as Eric Eugene Cole," Springfield police said in a statement Tuesday.
"The victim was lying in the street when he was struck by a marked cruiser as the officer arrived on scene in emergency response," the department said in the statement. "This was an accident, that doesn't mean it's OK. It was an accident. This was not an intentional act on the part of the officer, I'm sure of that," Springfield Police Chief Lee Graf said during a Wednesday news conference.
The Springfield Police Department said several officers were dispatched to Center Boulevard late on Sunday night after reports that someone had been shot, including a 911 call from the victim, who is Black. Graf said the responding officer, Amanda Rosales, "was trying to catch the addresses on the house" when she was responding to the call.
In a police incident report written by another Springfield police officer, there is no mention of an officer striking Cole with their vehicle. Several members of Cole's family attended the Wednesday news conference and said police did not initially disclose they had run over him, but they were informed of that incident by the hospital.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/16/us/springfield-ohio-man-death-police-cruiser/index.html
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