Police in Colerain Township say one of the victims in the mass shooting on July 8 is deliberately trying to steer their investigation in the wrong direction. Chief Mark Denny says he doesn't know why they were given false information but he has asked the prosecutor to investigate. The chief tells 700WLW's Scott Sloan they are making progress in identifying suspects but cannot predict when arrests might be made.
The Chief says investigators have wasted hours and days following leads known to be lies. The woman who claimed she lost her unborn child in the shooting was not pregnant at all. The department says it will not comment further on the misleading information.
Here is the complete release from the Police Department to update the shooting:
NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release Date: July 17, 2017 Since the tragic events that occurred on Saturday, July 8 on Capstan Drive, the Colerain Police Department, along with our partners in the Cincinnati Police Homicide Division, The Cincinnati Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), United States Marshals Service, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI) have worked non-stop to identify and arrest the suspects responsible for this terrible crime. Those having information pertaining to this investigation are urged to call the Colerain Police Department Tip Line at 470-7165 or Crimestoppers at 352-3040. Those criminally involved, in any way, are equally urged to step forward now and provide information before that opportunity ends. The drive of all the above agencies to close this case with an arrest will only intensify as more information is obtained. The time to assist us is now. Sadly, the Police Department, media and public, have been given information we have found to be is false. Hours and days have been wasted following leads known to be lies when they were provided to our officers. From the very beginning of this investigation, we have met significant resistance that is uncommon from victims of crime wanting a resolution. As an example, we were led to believe an unborn child was murdered in this incident only to find out that was not the case. That information is not provided to embarrass anyone, only to provide a fair understanding of the challenges we have faced in the past nine days. The Colerain Police Department will not comment further on any other misleading information, other than to say we wish our time had been spent on true leads that would help us remove these dangerous criminals from the streets. We ask that those with information to respect the fact that resources will be used to followup on every lead or tip. Providing misleading information only makes the task of solving this crime more difficult. We will be consulting with the Hamilton County Prosecutor in the coming days to update their office and seek advice on how to proceed with some of our information.