Video shows 'vicious, violent attack' on officer

Video footage of what Chief Eliot Isaac called "a vicious, violent attack" against a Cincinnati police officer was released Monday afternoon. The man attacking the officer was shot and killed by the officer, police said.

Two separate scenes show a man, who police identified as 25-year-old Jawari Porter, encountering a security guard in the Over-the-Rhine Kroger located at 1420 Vine St. and later police on Government Square in Downtown.

The footage shows the security guard appearing to block the exit of the store as Porter approaches with a knife in his right hand. Porter points the knife at the neck of the guard repeatedly as he makes his way out of the store.

The second video from a camera on Government Square shows Porter crossing the street. As a police cruiser approaches, Porter turns around and walks directly toward the driver's side door. As the Porter reaches the now open door with what appears to be a knife in his hand, officer Anthony Brucato appears to open fire.

Porter enters the driver side door on top of the Brucato, a 25-year veteran of the department. Officer Patrick Galligan circles the car and pulls Porter out onto the sidewalk.

The officer “was forced to defend himself,” Isaac said during the press conference. Brucato suffered minor injuries during the incident.

Man killed by police had history of mental illnesss

Monday afternoon, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters cleared the officers involved in the shooting of any wrongdoing, said nothing would be sent to a grand jury regarding the incident.

“This is a justified shooting. After threatening a Kroger store employee with a knife, he did not hesitate to try to stab a Cincinnati Police officer who did not even have an opportunity to get out of his vehicle," Deters said.

Earlier Monday Isaac said a subpoena from Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters prevented the city and the police department from releasing it. Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley said it is the city's policy and preference to make the video available as soon as possible, but the court order was preventing the city from doing so.

Deters' announcement of no charges also said the CPD was free to release the videos.

The shooting happened at about 7:40 a.m., about 20 minutes after police say Porter robbed a nearby Kroger store, at 1420 Vine St., Isaac said.

The two officers spotted Porter on Government Square near Main Street, about a mile from the store. Brucato fired six shots, striking Porter several times. Galligan did not fire his weapon.

Isaac said a knife was recovered at the scene.

Sunday's incident was the third fatal police shooting involving on-duty Cincinnati police officers this year. On Jan. 12, officers shot and killed 45-year-old Robert Tenbrink after he reached for the BB gun he used to rob several stores. In February, multiple officers shot and killed Paul Gaston, 37, after he reached for a gun in the waistband of his pants.

In May, an off-duty officer working security at a Fifth Third Bank branch in Madisonville shot and killed a man who vaulted over a counter and tried to rob the bank.

"It's important to recognize, based on what we just heard, that we could have been in a situation where an officer could have been killed," Cranley said during the news conference.

Black Lives Matter Cincinnati and the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition sent a joint news release condemning the Sunday shooting before video footage had been released.

"We contend the police-orchestrated escalation led to an avoidable killing," the release states. "No efforts were made to get mental health professionals on the scene and no serious effort was made to subdue/contain, rather than kill Jawari Porter."

In the release, the two organizations listed the following demands:

• Chief Prosecutor Joe Deters indict the police officer that discharged the weapon.
• The release to the public of all full, unaltered video from downtown cameras, Kroger surveillance cameras, and police dashboard cameras.
• Public access to initial statements made by police on the scene.
• Public access to all witness interviews.
• Suspension without pay for police during the investigation.
• The City of Cincinnati pay for Porter’s funeral expenses.