Shaquille Ferguson, a 24-year-old man, has been charged with multiple offenses, including felonious assaul,t following a shooting incident at Fountain Square in Cincinnati that resulted in the injury of a 16-year-old and a 19-year-old. LOCAL12 reported that court documents identify Ferguson as the gunman in surveillance footage showing him firing into the City Bird restauran,t where the victims were injured.
The presence of four officers on the scene during the shooting has prompted renewed debate on the efficacy of the city's crime prevention strategies. A scheduled court appearance for Ferguson was set for Monday morning, as he remains in custody. In a statement obtained by LOCAL12, details of the incident and the subsequent charges were outlined.
Ferguson turned himself in to the police the evening before his court appearance, accompanied by his attorney, Clyde Bennett II. According to FOX19, only their crew was present as Ferguson arrived at the Cincinnati Police Department District One headquarters and was booked into the Hamilton County Justice Center without bond on at least one charge of felonious assault.
Bennett has asserted that Ferguson acted in self-defense during the shooting, suggesting that the surveillance footage does not convey the full context. "My understanding is that those individuals had guns. One was pointing a gun at my client, and my client fired to defend himself," Bennett told WLWT. He also stated that a gun thrown into a nearby flower box by a minor was consistent with Ferguson's account of acting in self-defense.
Court documents reveal that before the incident at Fountain Square, Ferguson had pleaded guilty to an aggravated assault charge and was prohibited from carrying firearms. Additionally, Ferguson was already sought by police in connection with another shooting incident just days earlier in Northside, where a man was injured. These documents also indicate that shell casings from both crime scenes helped police link Ferguson to the shootings, as cited by WLWT.
