Cincinnati police planned yesterday to investigate allegations that officers struck two girls and a woman with bean-bag ammunition in an apparently unprovoked attack even as signs emerged that racial violence was subsiding in a city under curfew for a third night.
The police fired beanbags and struck a white woman and two young black girls on Saturday, shortly after the funeral of Timothy Thomas (19), a young black man who was killed by a white police officer a week ago - a death that started a week of rioting and racial violence.
Several witnesses said about five officers jumped out of a police cruiser a few blocks from the church where the funeral was held, opened fire with the beanbag ammunition for no apparent reason and then quickly drove off
Minutes later, a large police contingent arrived at a nearby intersection and brandished rifles to disperse a crowd that had congregated after the funeral of Thomas.
A tense stand-off followed, but no shots were fired as clergymen and officials of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People met police to defuse the situation.
Although fearful of a backlash of violence after the funeral, police reported just 25 curfew arrests as of late on Saturday night.
Thomas, who was unarmed but running from Officer Steve Roach when he was shot on April 7th, became the 15th young black crime suspect to be killed by the Cincinnati police since 1995 and the fourth since November. Officer Roach has said he thought Thomas was reaching for a weapon.
Ohio's Governor Bob Taft spoke at the funeral.
Evidence from Thomas's shooting is to be presented today to a grand jury to determine if the shooting was justifiable. The FBI and the Justice Department have both opened investigations into Cincinnati police practices.