MASON, Ohio — Newly released video shows escaped River City Correctional Center inmate Thomas Cromwell holding a woman at knifepoint inside a Mason hotel room.
Cromwell was shot and killed by an officer following a nearly 12-hour SWAT situation in July. Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell said the shooting was justified, saying Cromwell made comments that led officers to believe the woman's life was "in imminent danger."
His Facebook livestream from that night shows Cromwell threatening both officers and the hostage.
"I don't know what's wrong with people nowadays, I think y'all think this s**t is a game ... do you think this s**t is funny?" Cromwell asked while holding a knife to the woman.
Cromwell can then be heard shouting to someone, presumably police, on the other side of the door: "I told you what the f**k I wanted, I told you to stop talking to me unless I get it."
"Quit playing games ... do what the f**k I just said, and I'm telling you right now s**t could go a whole lot f**king smoother," Cromwell yelled. "Otherwise somebody's going to get f**king shot and somebody's going to get f**king dead."
Fornshell said Cromwell told negotiators they would have to kill him to save the woman he was holding at knifepoint, saying he was going to "go out in a glorious death." He called Cromwell's dead a case of 'suicide by cop.'
In interviews following the fatal shooting, the officer who shot and killed him told investigators with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation that Cromwell pulled the hostage closer to him, using her as a shield with his knife pointed at her throat. That's when the officer said he shot Cromwell in the head.
READ MORE
Cincinnati FOP president on 'suicide by cop' ruling: 'Nobody can train for the emotional aftermath of it'
Mother of mentally ill escapee shot to death by police says 'system failed my son'
Prosecutor: Officer who fatally shot escaped inmate as he held woman at knifepoint in hotel ruled justified
