Complaints of drug activity and a slammed door touched off the gun battle that hurt a Cincinnati police officer Wednesday night and led to the death of a man who shouted that he was “goin' down like a soldier.”

THE OFFICERS

Gregoire Maddox     Officer Craig Gregoire, 26, retreated into a bathroom during the shooting and noticed that he was bleeding. He was treated at University Hospital and released. Officer Steven Maddox, once criticized for possibly being too quiet for police work, was credited with helping get Officer Gregoire out of the bathroom.

OFFICER'S CALL

Listen to the wounded officer on police radio.

KILLED IN SHOOTING

Wheeler Adam Wheeler, a 21-year-old Corryville man recently released from prison for drug possession. He was wanted for armed robbery and abduction.

        What started as a response to neighbors' complaints about a reputed Corryville drug house — part of a growing problem across the city — erupted into gunfire. It ended in the city's sixth homicide in a month, the second officer shot in three months and the second suspect shot in a little over a week.

        Although violent crimes such as murder, rape and robbery are decreasing in Cincinnati and across the country, arrests for drug-related crimes are headed up.

        “Crack is so cheap and it's so available,” said Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen, whose office logged dramatic increases last year in indictments for drug possession and sales. “And one of the things we're starting to see is some of this stuff spreading out into the suburbs.”

        Wednesday's incident started when undercover officers from the police division's specialized Operation Street Corner anti-drug unit knocked on the front door of the Donahue Avenue building a little before 10 p.m. to investigate complaints of drug activity. They weren't looking for Adam Wheeler, the 21-year-old Corryville man recently out of prison for drug possession, who was wanted for armed robbery and abduction.

        But they found him in the kitchen of the apartment after they heard Officer Craig Gregoire ordering someone: “Put your hands up. Let me see your hands.”

        About 20 minutes later, Mr. Wheeler lay bleeding on the kitchen floor, lying on his gun. All six shots in it had been fired, Chief Thomas Streicher said. Investigators will never know, he said, if the ex-convict thought police were coming for him.

        Officer Gregoire, the 26-year-old son of a police captain, retreated into a bathroom during the shooting and noticed he was bleeding. He was treated at University Hospital and released. Officials said Thursday they weren't sure if the wounds to both his hands were caused by gunfire or shrapnel.

        He responded when the undercover officers called for help and had been on the scene three minutes when the gunfire erupted. After he and two other officers were let into the apartment, he walked down a hallway because officers heard commotion at the rear of the building.

        Police division criminalists spent hours at the scene, logging in what the chief described as a large number of spent rounds. Shots pierced the walls, the ceiling, a window, the refrigerator.

        Chief Streicher said it was not yet known who fired first or how many bullets hit Mr. Wheeler. Officers tried to persuade Mr. Wheeler to surrender, the chief said, but he instead pointed his gun at Officer Kenneth Baker, who was outside, and said, “You want some of this?” The officer fired several shots through a window.

        Five officers involved will be on paid leave for a week, standard policy after any officer-involved shooting. They'll be required to talk to a police psychologist and be evaluated on how the incident affected them.

        The rookie of the five — Officer Steven Maddox, once criticized for possibly being too quiet for police work — was credited with helping get Officer Gregoire safely out of the bathroom. During that rescue, Mr. Wheeler — apparently already shot — turned toward Officer Maddox.

        The officer, on the force a year, said he was afraid he was about to be shot. He fired several shots at Mr. Wheeler. Officer Gregoire fired, too.

        Mr. Wheeler hadn't been out of prison long. He had been sentenced in August to seven months for possession of drugs. He'd gotten the same sentence for the same crime in 1999, and served some time then.

        Chief Streicher said it was too soon to say whether the officers followed procedures. He said he tries not to come to conclusions before the investigation is finished.

        “I believe that any time this occurs, we all need to be concerned about it,” he said.

        Officers in District 4 knew Mr. Wheeler. They'd arrested him before, were looking for him in connection with a Nov. 28 attempted carjacking and suspected him in a series of street robberies around the University of Cincinnati campus.

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