Officers in a two-man cruiser spotted a confirmed stolen car at 14th and Vine Street shortly after midnight and gave chase, said Lt. Roger Wolf.
As the car approached McMillan Street, the suspect fired several shots at the cruiser and officers returned fire, hitting the suspect. No officer was hit, Lt. Wolf said.
Police did not identify the dead man or a second suspect in the car, who was taken into custody unhurt.
Early today, the suspect's sheet-covered body lay in the middle of the street as evidence technicians combed the scene, recovering some 20 shell casings. Nearby were the stolen car, its rear window shot out, and the police car, which was riddled with bullets.
Investigators from the police homicide squad, internal affairs office and the Office of Municipal Investigation also began their probes.
An off-duty Blue Ash police officer saw the incident unfold in front of him:
The officer, Joe Suhre, said he was traveling east on West McMillan, approaching Vine Street, when he heard the radio call on his car scanner about police pursuing a stolen car.
Moments later, he heard a succession of what sounded like eight to 12 shots -- "almost like an initiating shot and return fire," Mr. Suhre said.
The dark sedan in which the suspect was riding then rolled slowly through the intersection, hitting two other cars before coming to rest.
"My wife thought they were firecrackers," said Bobby Stevenson, 33, who lives a block from the scene.
In December, two Cincinnati police officers were shot to death while trying to arrest a suspect, who fled and killed himself moments later in virtually the same location as this morning's shooting.
Cincinnati police had been criticized for fatally shooting a psychiatric patient in February 1997 when he refused their order to drop a brick.
