Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval still has confidence in Interim Police Chief Adam Hennie after a fatal shooting on Fountain Square May 8, according to the mayor’s spokesman.
Shortly after a nonfatal double shooting on Fountain Square in October, the city manager placed then-Police Chief Teresa Theetge on administrative leave. Six months later, the city manager fired Theetge.
Hennie’s job, at least based on reactions at City Hall on Monday, appears secure. He’s served as interim chief since October.
The police have been “proactively at the table working with city leaders and area businesses to ensure the necessary measures are in place to keep our public spaces secure and safe,” the mayor’s spokesman Jack Willingham said in a text to The Enquirer in response to The Enquirer’s question on whether the mayor still has confidence in the police chief.
“There continues to be a strong working relationship, and they are full steam ahead on their work,” Willingham said in the text.
The mayor didn’t have any comment beyond the statement he released May 9 that thanked the officers who responded and called the shooting “unacceptable.”
What happened on Fountain Square?
Cincinnati Police and prosecutors say the May 8 shooting at Fountain Square happened after a confrontation between two men who shared “a common girlfriend.” Christopher Shipmon, 36, is charged with murder in the death of 25-year-old Darius Wheeler.
Why it matters
For more than a year, crime in Cincinnati has become a hot-button political issue. While citywide crime was down and Cincinnati saw a historically low number of shootings in 2025, a spate of violent crimes in the city’s urban core, notably the killing of a local gym owner and a viral brawl Downtown, made crime a top issue during the 2025 Cincinnati mayor’s race.
The firing of the Cincinnati police vhief in April has further drawn scrutiny to how the city handles crime.
Council members express support for interim chief
Several council members also expressed support for the interim police chief and said Theetge’s firing was the culmination of many other issues, not the Fountain Square shooting in October.
“It was multiple issues,” said Councilman Mark Jeffreys regarding Theetge’s firing. ‘It wasn’t just one issue.”
He praised Hennie and said the interim chief has “a strong plan” for increasing police visibility and traffic enforcement.
Councilwoman Meeka Owens and Councilman Scotty Johnson, who is a former Cincinnati Police officer, said the responsibility to address the issues that led to the Fountain Square shootings doesn’t just rest with police.
“It is not just city officials or CPD (Cincinnati Police),” Owens said. “This has to be business owners, stakeholders, state elected officials, federal elected officials, as we tackle what does living in an environment, in the world, in a country where access to firearms is easier than going to register to vote.”
Police not responsible for ‘ridiculous behavior’
Owens, like Jeffreys, said Theetge’s firing was “a culmination of things.” Johnson didn’t want to address Theetge’s firing, saying “that’s being worked out” in the courts. He said he has “total confidence in Chief Hennie.”
The Fountain Square shooting doesn’t change that, Johnson said.
“The Cincinnati Police cannot be responsible for people’s targeted, irrational, ridiculous behavior,” Johnson said.
Johnson pointed to a need for tougher gun laws. Cities in Ohio have largely been unsuccessful in passing gun legislation due to a state law that preempts local jurisdictions from having their own gun regulations.
“I would love to go back to where people had to go through serious background checks before anybody would be given the right to carry a firearm,” Johnson said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati mayor still backs police chief after Fountain Square shooting
Reporting by Scott Wartman, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
