Police: Shots fired from another car in I-75 'shootout'

Three people were struck in what police called a "shootout" on southbound Interstate 75 just before midnight Sunday near the Ezzard Charles Drive exit.

One man was severely injured and is in too bad a condition to talk to police, Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell said Monday. Two others are cooperating with police.

The shooting started in Mount Airy, Blackwell said, while the three were on their way to a nightclub. The chief said another vehicle pulled up and someone in that vehicle fired shots from a rifle.

Six shell casings were found.

"We can’t find any rationale for this type of behavior," Blackwell said. "There is nothing we could have done to be preventative."

Shootings so far this year in the city are up 32.2 percent over the same period last year, Blackwell said.

Officials were alerted of the incident after a 911 call from the highway. Tabitha Beebe said she was the one to make that call.

"We were driving down the highway and saw a car with its reverse lights on," Beebe of Cheviot said." "We pulled up a little further, and there was a guy standing there saying they'd been shot -- so I pulled over and called 911."

Police said the victims were transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

"I was scared," Beebe said. "I was afraid someone else might come back and something else might have happened. I was just praying that everyone was going to be alright."

Eric Lang, 25, Arnold J. Elliott, 24, and Joshua Collins, 21, were injured in the shooting, according to the police incident report.

"This just needs to stop," Beebe said. "All this violence needs to stop. It's just crazy."

Motorists were told to stay in their vehicles as Cincinnati police brought in K-9 units in an attempt to locate suspects around 1 a.m. Monday.

The suspects were last seen fleeing southbound on I-75.