Man whose son was killed by Ohio police accused of fatally running over deputy
A man who struck and killed a county deputy with his car Friday is the father of a teen who was shot and killed by a Cincinnati police officer a day earlier as officers were responding to a call about a stolen car, police said. Authorities said the crash appeared to be intentional.
The fallen officer has been identified as Larry Henderson.
According to Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey, Henderson served for 33 years with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, beginning in 1991. His roles with the sheriff's office included time spent as an academy instructor, dive team member, SWAT team member, FBI task force member and bomb unit member.
“In Deputy Henderson’s early tenure as a Sheriff’s Deputy, I recognized his talent for teaching and presentation," said McGuffey in a statement released by her office on Sunday afternoon. "Larry began his journey as a Sheriff’s Office trainer early in his career. He developed an expertise and became an excellent trainer. Subsequently, he trained divisions of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office that included hundreds of deputy sheriffs. His ability to relate to and touch officers’ lives was extraordinary. We will continue to honor Larry’s life of service.”
The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office had just posted on Facebook in December about celebrating his retirement from the force. The post has since been deleted.
McGuffey also announced in her statement on Sunday announcing Henderson's death that his badge number of #129 will be permanently retired from the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.
Henderson was working a special detail with the sheriff's office to help assist with traffic around University of Cincinnati campus as graduation ceremonies were underway there on Friday. After being struck by the car, he was rushed to nearby UC Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Immediately after the incident, the car's driver, 38-year-old Rodney Hinton Jr., was arrested and charged with aggravated murder in connection with Henderson's death.
[mediaosvideo align='' embedId='2621d925-200b-4391-a018-e88795db54a2' mediaId='0e56c468-cb47-4b0a-b2d2-fca45453ad8c' size=''][/mediaosvideo]Hinton's son, 18-year-old Ryan Hinton, had just been shot and killed by Cincinnati police the morning before. According to a statement put out by legal representatives of the Hinton family on Saturday, Rodney Hinton had just recently departed from Cincinnati police headquarters prior to striking Henderson. The statement says that Hinton had just been shown the body camera footage of his son's death, which caused him to be "distraught" throughout the entire meeting.
A statement issued later on behalf of Ryan Hinton’s family offered condolences to the family and colleagues of the deputy who was killed, calling it “an unimaginable tragedy” for the community and said the teen's family was heartbroken by the events and devastated for the deputy's family.
The Hamilton County Sheriff’s deputy was directing traffic near the University of Cincinnati on graduation day when he was hit by a car that drove into an intersection, Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge said.
“He was so well-liked and so well-known,” McGuffey said. “What a tremendous loss we have all suffered."
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement that he was “sickened by what appears to be an intentional act of violence.”
Authorities said the circumstances of the crash were being investigated.
“If the facts show this act was intentional, as the charge suggests, I will throw the full force of the law at the perpetrator,” Hamilton County prosecutor Connie Pillich said in a statement Friday.
Ryan Hinton was shot twice and killed by police Thursday during a chase. The officer who fired told investigators that the suspect pointed a gun at him, said Cincinnati's police chief. Police showed photos during a news conference Friday of a semiautomatic handgun that they said he was carrying and another gun that was found in the car.
One officer could be heard in body camera video released by police saying “he’s got a gun, he’s got a gun" before several shots were fired as Ryan Hinton was running behind an apartment complex.
While the blurred images did not clearly show Ryan Hinton pointing a gun as he and the officer were running, Theetge said the officer told investigators that he had the firearm in front of him, it was pointed at the officer and the officer feared for his life.
There was no indication that Ryan Hinton fired at police before he was shot, she said.