A bus stop robber with a BB gun was shot and killed Wednesday morning in Walnut Hills after a confrontation with five Cincinnati police officers that dozens of people watched.

        Calls from panicked cell phone users started pouring in to 911 about 9:20 a.m. from passersby who saw the man in a bulky coat standing outside the United Dairy Farmers store on Victory Parkway.

Sgt. Carolyn Williams sits stunned in a cruiser after being involved in a fatal shooting in Walnut Hills on Wednesday. (Glenn Hartong photos) | ZOOM |

        He's got a gun, they said. He's pointing it at people — a scene caught on a Metro bus videotape — telling them to put their hands in the air.

        Thirty minutes later, after running from police and pointing the BB gun at them, William Burrell Duncan, 37, was dead at University Hospital.

        Police still weren't sure Wednesday night which of 11 bullets fired by four officers killed Mr. Duncan, but they suspect the fatal wounds came from one of the last two officers who encountered him.

        Investigators interviewed more than 40 witnesses. One of them told police he heard Mr. Duncan say he wanted to die during the altercation.

        That, Chief Tom Streicher said, indicates the man's motive might have been what's known as “suicide-by-cop.”

        Police initially said Mr. Duncan fired at the officers. Later, they said they weren't sure he fired the BB gun or not. The weapon was made to look like a .45-caliber handgun. Witnesses described it as a big, black gun.

Police Chief Tom Streicher comforts Sgt. Carolyn Williams after the incident. | ZOOM |

        “I have to tell you,” the chief said, “if it was pointed at me, I'd think it was a real firearm.”

        Branden Fisher, president of Fisher-Griffin Co., an auto repair shop behind the UDF, heard what he thought was one shot.

        “I looked out, and people were just streaming out,” he said. “It was chaos.”

        Sgt. Carolyn Williams, the first to respond and fire, taught DARE in Cincinnati schools for years before being transferred back to street work just four days ago.

        “I knew this person was going to hurt somebody,” she told Chief Streicher at the scene. “I knew we had to stop this guy.”

        Mr. Duncan, also known as “Tuff Dog,” lived in an assisted-living facility until he was evicted recently, a neighbor told police. Police did not identify that neighbor or the neighborhood.

        He also was on medication, but investigators said Wednesday night they did not know the condition for which the medication was prescribed.

        Police said he has a misdemeanor record, but were not specific.

        Mr. Duncan became the 18th person killed in confrontations with Cincinnati police since 1995. The 15th, the killing of Timothy Thomas in April, touched off protests and riots — and prompted federal investigations.

        All but one of the 18 dead, including Mr. Duncan, have been African-American. The last one, killed in August, was white.

        Of the five officers involved in Wednesday's incident, three are African-American: Sgt. Williams, 46, on the force since 1980; Sgt. Tom Reid Jr., 50, a 29-year veteran; and Paul Graves Jr., 39, a former Cincinnati firefighter who became a police officer in 1997.

        Sgt. Williams fired first, then Sgt. Reid, who was off duty working a detail at a nearby business.

        Police said Officer Graves, s who took cover in the parking lot of a Chevron station, did not get a chance to fire. He suffered chest pains after the shooting. Doctors determined those likely were anxiety pains from the stress of the incident, Chief Streicher said.

        The last officers to encounter Mr. Duncan were Spc. John Horn, 37, an officer since 1986 who also was off duty working another nearby detail, and Officer Douglas Smith, 35, on the force for a decade. Both of them also fired, Spc. Horn last.

        City officials, including Chief Streicher and City Manager John Shirey, emphasized that every officer involved is a veteran.

        All of the officers will remain on paid leave for their next two off days and five working days, per departmental policy. They will talk with a police psychologist, who will help decide when they should return to work.

        “Unfortunately, many BB guns and even toy guns are purposely manufactured to look like real guns,” said Fraternal Order of Police president Keith Fangman, who spent the afternoon with the officers involved. “The officer can't tell the difference. And when one of those is pointed at us, we're not going to wait to find out.”

        Sean Trice, who lives nearby on Victory Parkway, ran into Mr. Duncan on the street corner. He stuck up his arms when Mr. Duncan, holding the gun, told him to. He told a dispatcher he had no idea what Mr. Duncan wanted or why he picked on him.

        “I haven't been shot or anything,” Mr. Trice said. “I'm just ... I'm just feeling really lucky.”

        Enquirer reporters Tom O'Neill, Ben Kaufman and Kristina Goetz contributed to this story.
       

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