McCurley

Carpenter

Miller

        A Cincinnati police officer made a fatal mistake when he shot a man during a traffic stop two months ago, according to an investigation the city released Wednesday.

        Officer Brent McCurley should be disciplined for the unjustified shooting death of motorist Michael Carpenter, Chief Investigator Ernest McAdams Jr. said upon releasing his findings for the city's Office of Municipal Investigations (OMI).

        “Mr. Carpenter should not have been shot,” said Mr. McAdams, a former assistant city prosecutor who leads the watchdog group that investigates complaints against city employees. “... Officer McCurley made a mistake.”

INFOGRAPHIC

OMI account of shooting

        Mr. McAdams wrote the 42-page report, and while it has no force as a disciplinary tool, it is the first official criticism of police actions in the March 19 shooting. Administrative and criminal investigations are pending.

        The OMI report clears Officer Michael B. Miller II, who had struggled with Mr. Carpenter at the driver-side door. But it criticizes Officer McCurley, the officer who moved behind the car and began shooting because he said he feared for his life.

        “The report says his life was not in the danger that he believed he was in,” Mr. McAdams said.

        Groups that protested the shooting two weeks ago at City Hall supported the findings. But the report was met with frustration by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Queen City Lodge 69, which has been critical of City Manager John Shirey, who placed the officers involved in the shooting on desk duty.

        OMI's report also brought some comfort to Mr. Carpenter's family, who learned more details about what happened. But for Mr. Carpenter's father, the Rev. Fred Carpenter, a recommendation to discipline only one officer wasn't enough.

        “I believe it should be both of them that should be punished, that's what I feel,” he said. “My son is not here to tell what happened, and both of (the officers) were surrounding him.”

        The fatal shooting began with a late-night traffic stop. The officers had spotted Mr. Carpenter inside a Northside convenience store about 1:20 a.m. asking a clerk for money. They ran the license plates of the car he was driving and found that they had expired.

        Moments later, Officer Miller, 24, a rookie just out of the police academy in December, and his field training officer, Officer McCurley, 27, a four-year veteran, pulled Mr. Carpenter over for the license plate violation.

        By 1:26 a.m., Officer McCurley came on a police radio asking for assistance. He had fired nine shots. Officer Miller had fired once.

        Officer McCurley told investigators he began firing because Mr. Carpenter refused to cooperate, dragged Officer Miller forward and appeared to be backing toward him.

        Officer McCurley fired the fatal shot. Mr. Carpenter, 30, of Mount Airy, died from a gunshot wound to his head. Another shot hit Mr. Carpenter in the arm and a third grazed his neck. Officer Miller's shot missed Mr. Carpenter and went inside the car.

        The officers' interviews with police documented in the OMI report indicate frantic moments of confusion.

        Officer McCurley thought Mr. Carpenter had a gun. He did not.

        Officer Miller said he at first thought Mr. Carpenter was the one doing the shooting. The officer felt glass hit his hand.

        OMI concluded Officer McCurley should not have fired because:

        • His partner was in the line of fire.

        • He did not know for certain whether Mr. Carpenter had a gun.

        • He did not know for certain that the car was going to back into him.

        OMI found that not only did Mr. Carpenter not have a gun, but the car ended up in drive — not reverse — indicating Mr. Carpenter was not trying to back into anyone.

        The report reflects a need for better training, said police Spc. Cecil Thomas, president of the Sentinel Police Association, an organization of about 250 black officers.

        He said officers assigned to train rookies should have at least seven years of patrol experience.

        Once recruits graduate, they work with field training officers for at least 12 weeks before working on their own. Typical of their peers on the 1,000-member force, most field training officers are part of the 70 percent of the force that has fewer than 10 years' experience.

        Spc. Thomas said it would have helped if Officer Miller's trainer had more than four years of experience, and he agreed with the recommendation for discipline. "We have to hold folks accountable for their actions.”

        But Keith Fangman, local FOP president, said the report sends the wrong message and could influence the other investigations.

        “If an officer tells me that he was in fear of his life ... then, absolutely, we stand behind that officer,” he said.

        For the Carpenter family, it's more than a matter of policy.

        “The one that killed him — he needs to be prosecuted,” Fred Carpenter said. “The other one didn't kill him, but he needs to be punished anyway because he was working there that night during that particu lar time. He might not need to be punished the same way, but there still has to be punishment.”

        Both officers remain on desk duty while investigations are pending.

        OMI's report is the first in a series of reviews into the incident, which has aggravated relations between the police and the community.

        “It is not the last say,” Cincinnati Police Chief Thomas Streicher Jr. said. “There are two more investigations that are being conducted. We will compare the results of all three investigations.”

        The other two are the police division's internal investigation, which will look at procedures and police conduct, and a criminal review by the Hamilton County's prosecutor's office.

        “It's a check and balance,” Chief Streicher said.

        OMI's recommendation will go before Mr. Shirey, who will decide on discipline for Officer McCurley that could range from nothing to a written reprimand or even firing.

        Chief Streicher also will recommend whether discipline is warranted, he said. “There may be no discipline at all.”

        Mr. Shirey declined to comment. His spokeswoman said he is waiting for the other investigations before giving his opinion. He referred comments about criticism of the report to its author.

        Mr. McAdams said he anticipates mixed reviews of the logic in his report. “I think some officers are going to buy into it, and some are going to think I'm totally nuts.”

        Earnest Winston contributed to this report.