CINCINNATI — After an early morning shooting in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood left nine people injured, police, city leaders and those who frequent the downtown area spent Sunday calling for accountability.

According to police, the shots rang out around 1:39 a.m. Sunday. Officers were already at the scene dispersing a crowd along Main Street when they say a fight escalated. One gunman shot at the crowd and fled after an officer fired at him. Another fired shots further down Main Street.

Police said the violence on Main Street is part of a worrying pattern that’s emerged from recent mass shootings and near misses in the city. 

Assistant Chief Michael John said many start as fights between a handful of people. They escalate when someone takes out a gun, and suddenly, crowds of bystanders are at risk. He pointed to the incident at Grant Park and the shooting at Target.

“It’s remarkable that we’re at a time right now where people are that brazen, and frankly, I’m at a loss for words for it,” he said.

Sunday’s shooting was something John said the department had been trying to prevent all summer.

“It’s important to know that this happened right in front of officers,” he said. “We’ve had lots of crowds on Main Street over the past month to six weeks, so we beefed up patrol.”

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According to John, officers were just feet away from the conflict when it broke out. That’s why he said the officer who shot at the suspect, now identified as Joe Schook, was able to respond so quickly.

“There’s no question that the actions of officer Joe Schook and his partner saved lives,” John said.

While Schook engaged with the shooter, John said other officers dispersed the crowd and worked quickly to provide aid to anyone injured. 

Mayor Aftab Pureval expressed his gratitude for the officer’s response at a news conference on Sunday. While he said he’s proud of how officers reacted, he’s disappointed gun violence like this continues to happen despite the police's best efforts to keep the area safe.

“It’s so commonplace that two officers are standing right there and shots are still fired,” he said.

John said the issue isn’t resources. He said police had enough staffing, overtime funding and presence that they were already at the scene before anything happened. The issue seems to be that presence alone isn’t stopping these shootings. 

“We’re scratching our heads really as to what we can do that’s going to alter people’s view,” he said.

Meanwhilem those who live and work along Main Street, like Lindsey Swadner, who owns the Hub, said they’re growing frustrated and fearful in the wake of all this violence.

“I’m used to fist fights,” she said. “But if you’re going to pull a gun on people, I think the bartenders in OTR need mental health help from what they’ve been experiencing."

Pureval said the city is considering adding even more police to the area, escalating their community cooperation and conflict resolution efforts. However, he pointed to the prevalence of guns across Cincinnati as a barrier to curbing the violence.

“There’s more guns than people in our community right now, nd with the increased inability for people to resolve their differences without reaching for a gun, it’s a challenge,” he said.

With these kinds of shootings growing in prominence, John asked the community to be more proactive and vigilant as well.  

“You’ve heard about conflict resolution, that’s our job. Call us. If you’re involved in a conflict and you feel threatened, call us and we’ll resolve it for you," he said.