Justice

The Video of Police Shooting Sam Dubose Will Be Released Today and Cincinnati is Worried

July 29th 2015

University of Cincinnati administrators announced that they will cancel classes and close all offices on the school's Uptown and Medical campuses, effective Wednesday at 11:00 a.m eastern time. The decision comes ahead of a press conference scheduled for later in the afternoon, where city officials are expected to discuss the shooting of Sam Dubose, a 43-year-old Black man who was fatally shot in the head by a UC campus police officer on July 19. Body camera footage of the incident will be released by the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office later today.

Dubose was pulled over about a mile from the Ohio campus for driving without a front license plate. Campus police officer Ray Tensing claimed that the man refused to exit his car and then attempted to drive away, dragging the officer along with him. Out of fear for his life, he then discharged his weapon, Tensing explained. Dubose was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities have expressed concerns about public response to the video's release, cautioning residents not to resort to violence.

"This decision is made with an abundance of caution in anticipation of today's announcement of the Hamilton County grand jury's decision regarding the July 19 officer-involved shooting of Samuel Dubose and the release of the officer's body camera," the UC police department said in a statement.

The body camera footage of the police encounter has been described by several law enforcement officials as troubling. "It's not good," Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffery Blackwell told reporters at WPCO."I think the city manager has said that also publicly. I'll leave it there."

City Manager Harry Black said of the unreleased video: "It's not a good situation. It's a tragic situation, someone has died that did not necessarily need to die."

In a statement released July 27, University of Cincinnati President Santa Ono said that administrators had met with members of the City Manager's Advisory Board "to hear their thoughts and perspectives about how best to move forward together in a spirit of cooperation and collaboration." After meeting with community leaders over the past week, Ono announced that that the university plans to hire an independent external reviewer to look into "UC Police Department policies, procedures, and practices." They will also launch a community advisory panel in light of the shooting.

"These are important steps to create an enhanced environment of openness and healing."

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