One person is dead after a shooting broke out inside Memories Lounge on 7th Street in downtown Cincinnati around 1 a.m. Sunday, and police on scene described the attack as targeted. The victim was taken to a hospital, where they died from their injuries, as officers shut down the street for several hours while they worked the scene.
According to WLWT, initial dispatch reports indicated that two people were shot inside the club, though it remains unclear what happened to the second person named in those early reports. Police have not released information about a possible suspect, and the investigation into the shooting was still active as of Sunday. Anyone with information has been asked to call Crime Stoppers at 513-352-3040.
Downtown Crime Numbers Have Been Falling
The shooting comes even as official crime statistics have shown significant improvement in the surrounding neighborhoods. Violent crime in Downtown and Over-the-Rhine fell by a quarter this year compared with 2025, according to cincinnati.com, with 115 such incidents recorded so far this year versus 164 at the same point last year.
Property crimes in the two neighborhoods also fell more than 20%, dropping from 1,532 incidents to 1,216, per the same report. Over-the-Rhine logged 14 shootings this year, still among the city's highest counts but down sharply from 25 around the same point in 2025, with no homicides recorded there this year.
Other Recent Shootings Around Cincinnati
Sunday's shooting is the latest in a string of gun violence incidents at or near Cincinnati nightlife venues, though each case is distinct and no connection between them has been established. Two people suffered non-life-threatening injuries in a separate shooting outside a Mount Auburn hookah lounge on Oct. 4, according to dayton247now.com.
In a separate case, Cincinnati police arrested two men on felonious assault charges in connection with a mass shooting that wounded nine people at Riverfront Live, as reported by WCPO. And prosecutors said brothers Robert and Phillip Shaw intentionally targeted Justin Johnson, who was fatally shot after leaving In Between Tavern downtown, according to FOX19. A shooting at Cincinnati's Cameo nightclub, reported separately by WLWT, left one person dead and at least 16 others shot.
No further details have been released about the victim in Sunday's shooting at Memories Lounge, and investigators have not said whether anyone has been identified or sought in connection with the case.
