University of Cincinnati Officer Shot & Killed Sam DuBose

A University of Cincinnati police officer was indicted Wednesday on a charge of murder for fatally shooting an unarmed black man during a traffic stop earlier this month.

“It was so unnecessary for this to occur,” Joe Deters, the Hamilton County prosecutor, said at a news conference Wednesday.

Sam Dubose, 43, was shot and killed during a July 19 traffic stop by Officer Ray Tensing. The officer initially said he was dragged by Dubose’s car, leading to the shooting. Deters said that Dubose “was subdued,” adding that Tensing had his license plate number.

“This office has probably reviewed upwards of hundreds of police shootings, and this is the first time that we’ve thought this is without question a murder,” he said.

While a university police report stated that Tensing said he had been dragged by the car before shooting, Deters said that the officer was not dragged. Rather, Tensing fell backwards after shooting Dubose in the head, Deters said.

Deters called the situation “a pretty chicken-crap stop” and a “senseless, asinine” shooting. He also said that if Dubose began to leave, the officer should have just let him go rather than shoot him in the head. An arrest warrant had been issued for Tensing, the prosecutor said.

“I’m treating him like a murderer,” he said. “They’re out to get him.”

Tensing was on administrative paid leave, Deters said, adding that he hoped the officer would soon be on administrative paid leave in the Hamilton County Justice Center.

The University of Cincinnati had said that it was canceling classes Wednesday out of “an abundance of caution” due to the expected announcement of a grand jury decision and release of footage capturing the shooting.

“Could you imagine the outrage you would have if this was your kid, if this was your brother, over a stop like this?” Deters said. “And he didn’t do anything violent towards the officer. He wasn’t dragging him. And he pulled out his gun and intentionally shot him in the head.”

An attorney for Dubose’s family said Wednesday that his relatives did not want a violent or aggressive response to the news of the indictment.

“We want those reactions to be completely peaceful,” Mark O’Mara said at a news conference. “Sam was a peaceful person….We do not want any violence, any anger to come out in a way that denigrates who he was and who he wanted to be remembered as.”

“I don’t know what to expect, but based on the political climate here and nationally, I would not be surprised if my client is indicted,” said Stew Matthews, a Cincinnati-based attorney who frequently represents police officers and who has seen the body camera footage of the shooting.

Several who had seen the video before it was released, including the Cincinnati police chief and city manager, said that the video shows a fatal shooting that didn’t necessarily need to happen. But, Tensing’s lawyer pushed back on that characterization.

Cincinnati was riven by riots, looting and protests in 2001 after an officer shot and killed an unarmed black man, Timothy Thomas. At the request of then-Mayor Charlie Luken, the Justice Department launched a review of the Cincinnati police, and a series of reforms followed.

“During the traffic stop an altercation occurred between the officer and the driver of the car,” the bulletin said. “A shot was fired and the driver of the car was killed. UCPD is working collaboratively with Cincinnati Police and an investigation is ongoing. The UCPD officer suffered minor injuries and has been treated and released from the hospital.”

A university police report filled out by Officer Eric Weibel states that Tensing screamed over the radio that shots were fired.

Tensing said he was making a traffic stop for a car not having a front license plate “when, at some point, he began to be dragged” by the driver, Weibel wrote. Tensing “repeated that he was being dragged by the vehicle and had to fire his weapon,” the report states.

“Officer Tensing stated that he almost was run over by the driver of the Honda Accord and was forced to shoot the driver,” Weibel wrote. Tensing said he fired one shot, according to the report.

Another officer, Phillip Kidd, said he saw the green Honda Accord drag Tensing and saw Tensing fire his gun.

O’Mara, the attorney for Dubose’s family, called this police report “self-serving.”

Tensing’s radio call to a dispatcher reporting shots fired and asking for medical help stated, “I’m not injured,” and he added: “The car took off on me.” A different officer stated that Tensing was injured.

After arriving at the intersection of Rice and Valencia streets, Weibel wrote that he saw a black man “slumped over motionless with a gunshot wound to his head.”

Weibel said that it appeared to him that “the back of [Tensing’s] pants and shirt looked as if it had been dragged over a rough surface.” Tensing said he had pain in his left arm and was taken to a nearby hospital.

The report concludes by noting that Tensing said the entire incident was captured by his body camera.

The University of Cincinnati Police Department says on its Web site that in addition to officers patrolling the main campus and serving other campuses, patrol officers also work with the city police to monitor neighborhoods around the main campus.

Last week, owing to concerns about the shooting involving a university police officer shooting someone off campus, school officials said these officers would begin only patrolling on the campus. In addition, the school’s police officers would only make traffic stops on the university’s campuses.

“We will be meeting soon with city and community leaders to evaluate our patrol areas,” Santa J. Ono, president of the university, said in a message to students, faculty and staff members. “The changes we have announced are not intended to be permanent, and we will be monitoring them on a continuing basis to make adjustments as warranted.”

Ono said that the Cincinnati police had agreed to increase patrols in areas surrounding the school’s campuses.

University officials have also announced that they will hire someone to independently review the department’s policies and procedures.

Deters said Wednesday that he thought the university police force should not be on patrols, saying instead that the city’s police force should do it.