CINCINNATI — A man suspected in a string of armed robberies in Cincinnati and Covington was shot by police after a chase Wednesday morning, according to Covington police Capt. Brian Valenti.
Green Township police Chief Brian Vetter said 36-year-old Robert Schneider had just committed another armed robbery — this one at a Marathon gas station on Cheviot Road — when authorities arrived and he fled.
The subsequent pursuit involved Green Township officers and Hamilton County Sheriff's deputies, who followed him in a helicopter until he abandoned his vehicle and ran to the home of a stranger: Delores Burton, home for the day with two of her grandchildren.
The boom of his fist against the door startled her, she said. She ordered her grandchildren to the bedroom and told them to lie down on the floor before she went to investigate.
When she did, he began pleading with her for help.
"You got all the help coming down the street," she told him.
Another boom. Schneider had decided he would get in anyway, she said. He was able to force the door open briefly before she slammed and locked it in his face.
He fired a single shot through the window in her entryway. Moments later, police arrived and Schneider dropped.
Valenti said Schneider had been shot three times after brandishing his gun at officers. Vetter declined to provide information about how many shots had been fired or by whom.
Schneider was hospitalized in critical condition, according to Vetter. No officers were injured in the confrontation. Burton visited a doctor afterward but said she was OK.
No Cincinnati police officers or Hamilton County Sheriff's deputies were involved in the actual shooting, according to Lt. Steve Saunders and Lt. David Daugherty, but Vetter said his department had invited Hamilton County to help investigate the incident.
Schneider had an eventful week leading up to the shooting. Cincinnati police identified him as the suspect in two robberies: One at Hyde Park Wine & Spirits and another at Saks Fifth Avenue. Covington police said he had also robbed Kimmy's Corner Grocery.
The shooting is the third officer-involved shooting this month. A police officer shot and wounded a man wielding a knife in a Madisonville park on July 4. Less than two weeks later, a police officer shot a woman with a knife in East Price Hill. The officers were not charged in either situation.
