William A. Weathers
The Cincinnati Enquirer

WEST END - A Cincinnati Police officer in plainclothes escaped serious injury Thursday night when a suspect fired a shot at the officer's unmarked vehicle near the intersection of W. Liberty and John streets. The officer, who was not hit by the bullet, returned fired and wounded the suspect in the foot.

Officer Patrick Galligan was treated at University Hospital for shattered glass in his eye and released, police spokesman Lt. Kurt Byrd said early Friday at the crime scene. The suspect, whose name had not been released, was at University Hospital being treated for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the foot, Byrd said.

The shooting occurred just after 11 p.m. when the suspect fired at Galligan's vehicle as it was traveling east on W. Liberty Street, Byrd said.

"He was coming up the street and he was shot at,'' the lieutenant said.

The bullet went through the car's front windshield and lodged in the passenger-side dashboard.

Galligan, a detective who was in the area investigating some recent burglaries, stopped his car, exited the passenger side door, and returned fire at the suspect, who was on John Street, just south of W. Liberty Street, Byrd said. The suspect was struck in the foot.

The officer fired ''more than one'' shot at the suspect, Byrd said.

Others officers who responded to the shooting scene helped Galligan take the suspect into custody, Byrd said. A semi-automatic handgun that had been fired recently was recovered on the ground near the suspect, he said.

"Why he shot we don't know,'' Byrd said.

Byrd said Galligan is well-known in the neighborhood and that many people are familiar with the type of unmarked vehicle that Cincinnati Police Department plainclothes police officers utilize.