The police cruisers drove slowly through Millvale. Officers were looking for someone, someone walking around with a shotgun.

        Essie Mae Hurt, just off work, was waiting for the bus that would take her home. She walked up the street to see what was going on.

        She saw her son, Rickey Moore. He had the gun. Put it down, she told him. You'll get killed.

Moore

Haas

        An hour later — about 12:15 a.m. Friday — her oldest son was dead. The 21-year-old convicted felon who suffered from schizophrenia and manic depression had been shot by a Cincinnati police officer.

        She thinks he wanted it that way.

        “He said, "Mama, I want to die. I want the police to kill me,'” she said, remembering the last words she heard from her son. “My son was sick.”

        Mr. Moore became the city's seventh homicide victim this week, the latest casualty in the unprecedented violence that continues to tear through the city. At least 82 people have been wounded and 12 killed in shootings since the April 9-12 protests and riots.

        The police division formed a new Violent Crimes Task Force this week to combat the danger on the streets.

Friends of Rickey Moore gather at an impromptu memorial erected to him in Millvale, on the spot where Mr. Moore died early Friday. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

        The death of Mr. Moore — a black man killed by a white police officer — threatened to open the race relations wounds community leaders have been trying to heal since the last time a Cincinnati officer killed a suspect. But this time, key officials responded immediately with the kind of support police officers have been insisting they need to do their jobs.

        Mr. Moore was shot by Officer Thomas Haas, a nine-year veteran of the force and former U.S. Army squad leader who is now trusted to train new Cincinnati officers. It was his second gun battle — something most officers survive their whole career without — in less than three weeks.

        Chief Tom Streicher called Officer Haas a hero then for not backing down from the run-and-shoot battle. Friday, the chief again praised the officer, saying he was one of the division's five best.

        “I'm certainly satisfied at this time ... that Tom Haas went above and beyond the call of duty,” the chief said. "He is incredibly brave.”

        The Millvale neighborhood was calm into the night. More than 150 people gathered for a candlelight vigil. Mr. Moore's father, Rickey Sr., told the crowd: “Everything's going to be all right.”

        The dead man's mother called for an end to the violence.

        “I'm not going to have that,” she said. “I want it to come to an end. ... I want people to pray.”

        Monitors from the city's Human Relations Commission walked through the neighborhood talking to residents. They explained that officers are trained to shoot back when they're fired upon.

Police Chief Tom Streicher displays the shotgun that Rickey Moore fired at Officer Thomas Haas early Friday. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

        “There's a lot of hostility and hatred,” said John Wilson, a monitor who walked the streets. “They aren't afraid of anybody. What these kids in the street are saying is, "We have more guns than the police. If they want a civil war, we can have a war.'”

        Mr. Moore's family and friends left notes and teddy bears at the wooden cross memorial they erected near where he died. Somebody wrote in green marker: “Free.”

        Mr. Moore was the 16th African-American man to die in a confrontation with Cincinnati police since 1995.The most recent previous one was the April 7 shooting of Timothy Thomas, which sparked the unrest.

        The Rev. Damon Lynch III, who has been critical of the way Cincinnati police officers treat black people, responded differently Friday.

        “It seems that the officer was protecting himself and protecting other innocent bystanders,” he said. “It needs to be made clear that if you use a weapon, point a weapon at a police officer or another citizen, that the consequences can be fatal.”

Searching for suspects

Daryal Bass, 26, watches as Tisheena Steele, 18, signs a handmade card for Rickey Moore on Friday at the scene where Mr. Moore died. (Yuli Wu photo) | ZOOM |

        The “gun run” that ended in Mr. Moore's death began about 10:54 p.m. Thursday when a woman called 911 to say she saw a man walking up and down Millvale Court with a shotgun. Another woman called twice to report the same thing.

        Later, many in the neighborhood where Mr. Moore lived with his girlfriend would say they saw him carrying the gun for several days before the shootout.

        A few minutes after midnight, Officer Haas pulled onto a service road next to a wooded area on Millvale Court. Mr. Moore was near the edge of the woods and about 20 to 30 feet from the officer when he fired his 12-gauge, modified pump shotgun.

        The officer told his supervisors he then pointed his 9 mm service weapon at Mr. Moore and yelled at him to drop the gun. Mr. Moore did not. Officer Haas returned fire, shooting five times.

        Mr. Moore then yelled, Chief Streicher said: “You want a piece of me, (expletive)? I'll kill you!”

INFOGRAPHIC

• What unfolded in Millville

        Officer Haas scrambled out of the car, officials said, and — using the car as cover — fired his shotgun twice. Mr. Moore was hit in the upper torso, neck and on one side of his face. He fell to the ground, but was still clutching the shotgun.

        Alone, Officer Haas waited for backup before approaching the man, who was still moving. Mr. Moore was taken to University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:32 a.m.

Moore's criminal past
        Mrs. Hurt and other relatives questioned why the officer fired so many times. Officers are trained to fire at the center mass of a person's body until the threat of force is removed.

        She also was critical of police for not recognizing her son from his previous arrests, and for not responding differently because they knew he had mental problems. The communication between dispatchers and officers, however, did not indicate anyone knew Mr. Moore had mental-health issues.

        Mr. Moore's criminal history reveals a string of misdemeanors, felony drug charges, probation and prison time since his first arrest April 1998. His mother also said he had been hospitalized at least five times at facilities, including the Pauline Warfield Lewis Center and University Hospital's psychiatric ward.

        Chief Streicher said he spoke to Officer Haas on Friday morning, and that — in spite of the two gun battles in 17 days — the officer told him: “I love my beat and I love my beat work.”

        Officer Haas was put on paid leave for seven days, per policy. He'll be interviewed by a psychologist who will recommend when the officer can return to work.

        Keith Fangman, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said “every citizen in this city” should say a prayer “that we are not preparing for another police funeral.”

        Mr. Moore's family had not yet begun to plan his funeral.
       Enquirer reporters Michael D. Clark and Kristina Goetz contributed.
       

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