GhLinks Media
Amani Smith has been identified as the teen who was killed in a double shooting in Covington on Tuesday.
Amani Smith was 14 years old.
What we know
It happened around 3:30 p.m. when officers responded to Decoursey Avenue, near 39th Street, for a report of a shooting with multiple victims.
According to police on scene, two people were shot and taken to the hospital. Police said the two victims were both 14 years old.
Smith was pronounced dead at University of Cincinnati Medical Center and the other victim, a girl, is in stable condition at the hospital.
The identity of the girl has not been released publicly.
Police have not identified any suspects at this time, though officers said there is no danger to the public.
School officials at Latonia Elementary School said they were advised to shelter in place by Covington police around 3:34 p.m. due to shooting activity in the area.
Officials said students in the after-school program remained at the school until the scene was secured.
On Tuesday, Covington Independent Public Schools superintendent Alvin J. Garrison released a statement on the shooting, saying the teenager who died was a student in the district.
“We know that children’s reactions to such a tragedy will cover a wide range of emotions. Sometimes their reactions may seem inappropriate. Sometimes even students who did not know the victims will react strongly. District staff will meet with students Wednesday to help them cope with their feelings. Many will express their grief openly. Others will react in different ways. If your children are affected by this tragedy, we urge you to encourage them to talk with a member of our team. We believe that your child’s continued attendance at school is important for many reasons, among them that he or she will be more readily able to talk with a counselor,” the statement said in part.
“He didn’t do nothing to nobody to deserve this,” the victim’s friend, Xander Faehr said. “I called everybody I knew, asked if it was true. Only thing I found out was that he wasn’t with us anymore.”
Faehr says he never expected his friend’s life to end this way.
“Just last week I was on the phone with him and I came to see him last weekend. We spent time together and I didn’t know that was the last time I was going to see my friend,” Faehr said. “I don’t know who did it, how it happened, but he really didn’t deserve it.”
Holly Releford heard the chaos from inside her home.
“I thought someone got hit. I wasn’t sure. Come outside and the boy is laying there and he is gasping for air. I seen blood coming out from the back of his head. I tried to run to get to him, but Bob tried to pull me back because he knew I was in shock a little bit because I was freaking out,” Releford said.
