Ohio police officer escapes injury when helmet hit by bullet

Associated Press
Sunday, May 31, 2020 12:11 p.m. | Sunday, May 31, 2020 12:11 p.m.

The Columbus Dispatch via AP

Congresswomen Joyce Beatty tries to intervene as a protester is taken down to the street by Columbus police that resulted in pepper spraying the crowd during a protest at on South High Street near the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio in May 30, 2020.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A police officer escaped injury when his helmet was struck by a bullet during a Cincinnati protest, while in Columbus a fire considered suspicious destroyed a nearly completed apartment building amid a third day of protests in Ohio over the Minneapolis death of George Floyd.

In Cincinnati, the officer was working to disperse a crowd near the University of Cincinnati early Sunday when several shots rang out. Police said the officer was uninjured. Several fires and damage to buildings were reported in Clifton Heights, and officials said a 10 p.m. curfew for downtown and Over-the-Rhine may be extended there.

The Columbus Dispatch reported that the fire at the four-story Residences at Topiary Park burned for hours early Sunday, causing part of the roof and several floors to collapse.

“It’s obviously suspicious because no one is living here,” Columbus Fire Division Battalion Chief Anthony Brooks said.

Battalion Chief Steve Martin told WBNS-TV that arson was suspected, and that an attempt was made to set fire to other apartment building under construction next door.

The governor of Ohio said Saturday he was calling out the Ohio National Guard and highway patrol to help enforce laws in Columbus, where the mayor said more than 100 public and private properties had been damaged, five officers were injured by thrown bricks or rocks and police vehicles were set afire.

Floyd, a black man, died after a white officer pressed a knee into his neck for several minutes.