Cameron Knight

cknight@enquirer.com

Officials are crediting a national ballistics database for leading them to an arrest in the case of shootings during which bullets struck the Great American Tower last January.

Bullets and shell casings found during the investigations of the four shootings were sent off to be entered into the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network.

No injuries were reported in the shootings.

Cincinnati police Assistant Chief Mike John compared the system Friday to the national database of fingerprints, only for gun evidence.

John said that using the database, police linked Rayshawn Herald to the shootings. Herald was indicted Wednesday in federal court on weapons charges.

Herald was arrested last May in connection with what police said was a gang-related shooting in Walnut Hills that sent bullets into a Metro bus and a gas station. He has been convicted on charges related to the shooting and sentenced to six years in prison.

The Great American Tower at Queen City Square at 301 E. Fourth St. was shot at and damaged after business hours four times between Jan. 19 and 27, 2015, according to previous Enquirer reports.

During the investigation, investigators said traffic camera footage was found showing a muzzle flash coming from the driver side of white Ford Fusion. John said that Herald was involved in a crash in late January 2015 while he was driving a rented Ford Fusion.

After that connection was made, the firearm used in the Walnut Hills shooting was also sent off to be entered into the national database. The connection between the incidents was then discovered, John said.

The investigation was carried out jointly by Cincinnati police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Hamilton County Coroner Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco said that since the time of this investigations, her office has obtained the machines needed to fully utilize the national database. She said evidence from new cases as well as older cases are now being entered into the system.