Ohio Cop Kills One in Undercover Bust Gone Bad

Cincinnati Police undercover officers shot and killed one man and wounded another during a drug buy gone bad Wednesday night. Montez Oneal, 19, becomes the 60th person to die in US domestic drug law enforcement operations so far this year.

According to WKRC TV 12 News, acting Police Chief James Whalen said Friday Oneal was driving a car that drove away from two undercover officers who attempted to pull it over after buying heroin from the three men inside. Oneal’s vehicle eventually drove into a dead end, when he allegedly put the car in reverse and slammed into the unmarked car carrying the undercover officers. Another Cincinnati police officer in a patrol car then pulled his cruiser beside Oneal’s car to try to box him in.

At that point, according to Whalen, one of the men then jumped out of the vehicle, pointed a weapon at the uniformed officer, then fled as the officer fired on him. Whalen said police did not think that suspect had been hit. He remains at large.

Then, Oneal stepped halfway out of his car and fired at the uniformed officer with a .45 caliber handgun. The officer returned fire, striking Oneal multiple times. He died at the scene. A third man in the vehicle, Robert Matthews, 23, who was the target of the investigation, was in the back seat. He was wounded when the officer fired on Oneal, then treated at a local hospital and jailed.

The police shooter, Officer Orlando Smith, has been reassigned to administrative duties pending the outcome of an investigation into the shooting.

Article republished from Stop the Drug War under Creative Commons Licensing