Jennifer Edwards Baker

jbaker@enquirer.com

Cincinnati police swarmed Over-the-Rhine Tuesday night after it initially appeared someone shot at an officer during a pursuit, but officials later determined the gun accidentally went off.

No one was hurt.

The gunman was arrested early Wednesday and identified as Jerome Young.

He is held on $285,000 cash bond at the Hamilton County jail on charges of carrying a concealed weapon, having a weapon under disability, tampering with evidence and obstructing official business, said Lt. John Rees, the night chief.

Two officers were investigating an apartment building at 32 E. 13th St. about 11 p.m. to make sure no illegal activity was occurring, at the request of the building's owner, when they spotted Young and thought he was acting "suspicious," said Rees.

They approached Young and tried to talk to him, but he took off into a stairwell, where his gun went off.

At first, police believed they were being fired at, but they later determined Young's 9mm pistol accidentally went off as he shoved it down the front of his pants in an attempt to hide it, Rees said.

"He is lucky he didn't accidentally shoot himself," Rees said of Young.

Young ran into an apartment building and went door-to-door, trying to convince residents to let him in and hide him.

Police summoned SWAT, but located Young inside a vacant apartment before the special tactical team could scramble to the scene.

Young was taken into custody without further incident about an hour after the shot rang out. His gun was recovered outside the building after police say he threw it out a window.

Court records show Young is a convicted felon who has been in and out of state prisons and the county jail several times over the past 10 years.

Young was convicted in 2003 and 2004 for possession of and trafficking crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school, and robbery.

He was charged May 5 with criminally trespassing while possessing heroin at 32 E. 13th St., the same building where police encountered him Tuesday night.

He was arrested after he could not give police a valid reason why he was at the property. When officers took him into custody, they found the heroin on him.

In court records, officers wrote that heroin "is a bad problem in this building."

When Young's gun went off Tuesday night, it was the second time in less than 24 hours that a gun accidentally discharged as Cincinnati police attempted to apprehend a suspect.

About 1 a.m. Tuesday, a gun went off as a passenger fled a traffic stop at Hewitt and Hackenberry streets in Evanston.

A passenger got out and ran off after officers stopped a vehicle for the minor offense of running a stop sign, Rees said.

As he fled, he tripped and his gun accidentally went off.

No one was hurt, and the man escaped.

The driver was taken into custody at the scene, but he refused to cooperate with officers.