City Is Calm After Police Shooting

Police and black leaders said they were grateful Saturday that the shooting of a black man by an officer has not sparked riots like those that scarred the city after another shooting in April.

Ricky Moore was shot Friday after he twice fired on an officer. The killing has not led to the kind of unrest that followed the death of Timothy Thomas, another black man shot dead by a white officer.

“The city has been not only quiet, the city, including the residents, black and white, are starting to come together. If something positive can come out of tragedy, maybe this is it,” said Keith Fangman, president of the city’s Fraternal Order of Police. “I hope that is an indication that we are turning the corner in improving police relations with the black community.”

The Rev. Damon Lynch III, a black clergyman and head of the Cincinnati Black United Front, said there is evidence that the officer was justified in shooting Moore.

“I think preliminary reports indicate that the young man who was shot . . . was a threat to other citizens and to the officer who shot him and that the officer was acting in self-defense,” he said. “The African American community is not anti-police, we just want police to do their job and do it well.”

Dozens of people were injured and more than 800 arrested in April during three days of rioting, the city’s worst racial violence since the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. Thomas was shot after fleeing from officers who were trying to arrest him, mostly for traffic charges.

Police Chief Thomas Streicher said Officer Thomas Haas warned Moore several times not to shoot, but Moore fired. The officer returned fire, killing Moore. Haas was not injured.

Haas will be placed on administrative leave during an investigation of Friday’s shooting, which is routine in such cases.