Two fatal shootings and a serious stabbing in roughly six hours Tuesday shattered the relative calm that some Over-the-Rhine residents had come to relish over the past few weeks.

Cincinnati police investigators search around a shooting victim's car for more shell casings and other evidence at 15th and Pleasant streets in Over-the-Rhine Tuesday. (Glenn Hartong photos) | ZOOM |

        “I knew it wouldn't last,” said Moesha Thompson, who passed by the scene of one of the fatal shootings. “There ain't been too much going on around here, but you knew something would happen eventually.”

        Police Tuesday night arrested a 20-year-old Avondale man in connection with one of the slayings, but were still seeking information in all three crimes.

        The violence started around 8:15 a.m. when a call to 911 reported shots fired in the 1200 block of Jackson Street.

        Officers arrived to find Karreem Pritchett, 29, lying on the sidewalk outside 1211 Jackson, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Mr. Pritchett, a West End resident, was taken by ambulance to University Hospital, where he later died.

        Witnesses at the scene reported hearing gunfire and then seeing a body thrown from a vehicle.

        Police were searching for a red Hyundai Elantra with a rear spoiler driven by a single suspect.

Police officers and a witness stand around on West Elder Street in the Findlay Market area after a man was stabbed in the neck. | ZOOM |

        Police also were looking for another car, a dark blue four-door with tinted windows.

        Later in the day, Avondale resident Jeffrey Jones, 38, was stabbed in the neck at about noon on an Over-the-Rhine street.

        Mr. Jones was listed Tuesday night in serious condition at University Hospital.

        A couple of hours later, shots rang out outside Walt's Grocery at 15th and Pleasant streets, where police arrived about 2:15 p.m. to find 23-year-old Rahshan Jones of Avondale suffering from a single gunshot wound.

        Mr. Jones was pronounced dead shortly after he was transported to University Hospital.

        Police later charged Darius McCurdy, of the 3400 block of Vine St. with murder. They provided no further information.

        The shooting outside the grocery prompted officials at nearby Washington Park School to keep students inside after the school's normal closing until police had secured the area, a Cincinnati Public Schools spokeswoman said.

        The students laughed and played as they passed by the yellow tape surrounding the crime scene.

        But some adults living in the area were visibly shaken.

        “There's always some bad ... kids hanging around that corner,” said Shelby Lake, who lives close to the grocery. ""That's why I try to get all my shopping done before it gets dark. But, damn, you ain't even safe in the daylight no more.”
       

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