'Never been this bad:' Possible road rage shooting latest in Downtown crime uptick
Cincinnati police reported a 37-year-old man was found shot in the 600 block of Main Street just before midnight June 29. He was taken to an area hospital with injuries that were not life threatening, officials said
The owner of Bay Horse Cafe, Kyle Smith, told The Enquirer it was his doorman who was grazed in the leg by a bullet.
Smith said surveillance camera footage from the bar shows it could have been a road rage incident between two drivers on Main Street. He said the footage shows a red SUV slammed on its brakes and a black car swerved around it before the drivers began exchanging gunfire.
There were about 10 gunshots total, Smith said, four of which entered his establishment, breaking the front window glass. Smith said he spent all night in the hospital with his doorman after one bullet grazed his leg, but he's expected to be okay.
Police said some at the scene also reported minor injuries due to broken glass.
Chief Theetge: Here's the top priority for Cincinnati's new police task force
The shooting on Main Street, just a block over from the Aronoff Center, comes during what Mayor Aftab Pureval has called an "unacceptable rise in crime" across Cincinnati. Police Chief Teresa Theetge has attributed much of it to minors, telling The Enquirer in a recent interview she is starting a roving task force to proactively target crime hot spots.
Smith said safety is his number one priority at the bar, which reopened in April after changing owners and caters to a service-establishment crowd.
"I've been working Downtown for eight-and-a-half years," Smith said. "It's never been this bad."
Cincinnati police did not reveal any additional details about why the shooting occurred. The investigation is still underway.
Both violent and property crimes have seen a significant increase Downtown this year-to-date. So far this year in Downtown, according to neighborhood crime data up to June 29, there have been:
30 robberies, compared to 18 by this point in 2024 and an average of 12.67 over the past three years.
56 burglaries/breaking-and-entering incidents, compared to 21 by this point in 2024 and an average of 23.67 over the past three years.
242 auto thefts, compared to 133 by this point in 2024 and an average of 130 over the past three years.
The Bay Horse Cafe doorman is the 10th person shot in Downtown so far this year, according to a city dashboard last updated June 24. By this time last year, there had been six people shot Downtown.
What's that in the sky? Cincinnati police take to sky with new drone unit, expected to cover city by year's end
Overall, reported shootings are down in Cincinnati this year when compared with the number of shootings at this time last year. In 2024, there were 135 reported shootings by this point in the year, city data shows.
However, the number of people killed in shootings citywide has remained constant. So far in 2025, there have been 30 people killed in shootings, the same by this point last year.
The city publishes dashboards of crime statistics for public safety and other topics, which it updates on a semi-regular basis. The Cincinnati police crime analytics department also publishes crime data by neighborhood, which it generally updates weekly.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 'Never been this bad:' Downtown shooting near bar latest in crime uptick
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