CINCINNATI — A 35-year-old man was arrested Wednesday for shooting and killing a man outside a Clifton hotel on May 15.
Cincinnati police were called to the hotel on Central Parkway at around 10:40 p.m. for a report of a person shot. When they arrived, they found a 34-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound; the man was taken to the UC Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
The Hamilton County Coroner's Office identified the victim as 34-year-old Antonio Smith.
Demarco Smith was arrested on an open murder warrant for the shooting.
One motel guest, who asked to remain anonymous, said it was his friend who was fatally shot outside his room.
He said his friend showed up with a man he didn't know. Moments later he said a dark colored truck with a man and a woman inside pulled up and backed into the parking spot in front of the room.
He said the man in the truck said something to the man his friend showed up with and it didn't take long for the two to start arguing.
"He says, 'You look like real sketchy my guy' and no sooner than he said that the guy in the truck reached for his piece, pulled it and next thing you know, back and forth gunfire," the motel guest said.
He said his friend was caught in the crossfire.
"My best friend is laying right here," he said. "Been shot four times, bleeding out dying."
The guest said his fiancee jumped in and tried to save his friend and stave the bleeding until police arrived.
"She did the best that anybody could have possibly done," he said.
He pointed out the four rounds that entered his motel room. He said a fifth grazed him and landed near the bed.
A different guest said he's been staying at the motel for a week said he heard the shooting but didn't come out of his room.
"Around 10:30 I heard some shots ring out in the parking lot and then I heard a woman screaming or yelling," John Jacob said.
Another guest who is staying a few doors down from where the shooting took place and also asked to remain anonymous, said he and his wife had returned to the hotel moments after it happened.
"We all was trying to get towels to stop him from bleeding, everyone was trying to save him but he was just going in and out," he said. "It can happen anywhere any time. Just ain't safe out here. I've been shot before but I've never seen somebody shot where he's dying."
Cincinnati police said not long after the 34-year-old victim was taken to UCMC, two additional people showed up at area hospitals with gunshot wounds. Police did not provide information on how badly they are hurt or if they are the other two alleged shooters.
Police said Monday night they were looking for two suspects possibly connected to the shooting — a man and a woman in a dark pick-up truck. Witnesses who claimed to be at the motel Monday night when shots were fired said two people who shot and killed the 34-year-old were also shot in the incident.
Editor's note: Cincinnati police on the scene of the shooting initially said the man killed was shot multiple times. A press release from CPD issued the next day said the man was shot once.
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