Two Cincinnati police officers were assaulted while trying to break up a massive crowd near the University of Cincinnati over Halloween weekend, with one officer hospitalized and needing stitches before being released. Police say the chaos unfolded on Short Vine Street in Corryville, where officers estimated roughly 2,000 people had gathered as the night escalated.
Cincinnati police were called to Short Vine around 11 p.m. Saturday after reports of a large crowd yelling near UC during a Halloweekend event, according to FOX19. Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police President Ken Kober told WLWT that two officers were assaulted during the incident on Short Vine, with officers attacked near the BP gas station as police tried to break up the crowd. One officer was treated at the scene, while the other was taken to the hospital and needed stitches, per the same account.
Videos and photos posted online showed at least one officer being assaulted as police broke up crowds near the gas station, with some people seen standing on top of fuel pumps, according to FOX19. The department's civil disturbance response team and other officers were called in to help manage the scene, as reported by Cincinnati.com. Kober said police deployed Tasers on seven or eight people that night, with five of those Taserings tied directly to the Short Vine incident.
Officers Expected to Recover, Union Says
Kober said both officers will be okay and are now home recovering, according to WLWT. One person has been arrested in connection with the assault on an officer, Kober said, and police believe more arrests could follow. A separate suspect tied to an earlier Short Vine disturbance was charged with obstructing official business after interfering with officers' efforts to break up a large fight, per the same WLWT report.
Cincinnati police said they are investigating a social-media video showing officers being assaulted and are focused on officer and community safety, according to WCPO. Cincinnati Interim Police Chief Adam Hennie said the department would not tolerate assaults on its officers and would pursue anyone who attacks, interferes with or obstructs officers performing their lawful duties, per WLWT.
Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval said anyone who assaults an officer will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law, WCPO reported. Cincinnati Council Member Mark Jeffreys condemned the attack on the two officers Saturday night, saying his thoughts were with them and their families and that violence against the city's protectors would never be tolerated, according to FOX19.
Shots-Fired Report Minutes Before Crowd Call
Cincinnati police also responded to reports of shots fired in the 800 block of East University Avenue about ten minutes before the Short Vine Street call came in, per emergency communication reports cited by FOX19. Kober told Cincinnati.com he was not aware of any confirmed shootings in the area Saturday, though he could not rule out reports of gunfire. Kober also said there had been multiple “crowd runs” near UC throughout the week, describing the behavior as among the worst some officers had witnessed, per the same Cincinnati.com report.
This is not the first time Halloween weekend has brought chaos to the blocks around UC. A Halloween celebration near campus in 2025 was disrupted by multiple rounds of gunfire that sent hundreds of partygoers fleeing, though authorities reported no injuries at the time, according to Local 12.
Pattern of Violence Along Short Vine
The weekend's events follow a string of violent incidents that have troubled the Short Vine corridor since last fall. Three UC students were allegedly attacked, beaten and robbed while riding electric scooters on Short Vine Street on Sept. 30, according to WCPO, which described the episode as part of a broader pattern of violence near campus since the start of the fall semester, including several shootings. Four minors were arrested in connection with that attack and charged with aggravated robbery, per the same report.
Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Police Department and University of Cincinnati Police have said they implemented a safety strategy combining increased police presence, environmental improvements, traffic and parking controls, community monitoring and targeted enforcement, according to WCPO. Separately, four men were sentenced to prison for their roles in a 2025 attack on two UC students and another person on Short Vine Street, Cincinnati.com reported, part of a total of seven people sentenced in connection with Sept. 13, 2025, attacks in which one student was knocked unconscious and suffered a broken jaw. Among those sentenced, Austin Smith and Deontae Conyers each received five to seven and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to felonious assault, per the same report.
