By William A. Weathers
The Cincinnati Enquirer

One person was killed and two others wounded - one critically - in a street shooting Thursday night in Over-the-Rhine.

The shooting occurred about 8:30 p.m. in the 1800 block of Elm Street near Findlay Market. Several people in the neighborhood reported hearing as many as seven gunshots.

"We know there were multiple gunshots fired," said Cincinnati Police spokesman Lt. Kurt Byrd.

The two wounded victims were taken to University Hospital, where one was in critical condition and the other fair.

All three shooting victims - whose names were not released by police - were young males.

The homicide was the 19th of the year in Cincinnati.

Police were looking for two suspects. One was armed with a 9 mm handgun.

They were last seen leaving the scene in a green station wagon heading south on Race Street.

The armed suspect was described as a black male, 20, 5-foot-1 to 5-foot-3 with a thin build, wearing a light brown hat and an orange pullover. The second suspect was described as black male, heavyset with a short-sleeve shirt with horizontal stripes and jeans.

Homicides this year are running ahead of last year's pace, when there were 65, the highest in 15 years. There were 13 homicides in the city as of March 20 in 2002, compared to this year's 19.

Anyone with any information on the shooting is asked to call the Cincinnati Police Department's criminal investigations section at 352-3542 or Crime Stoppers at 352-3040. Callers can remain anonymous and may receive compensation for their information.

E-mail bweathers@enquirer.com