Medical examiner: Officers not ‘directly responsible’ for woman’s death after Cleveland police-involved shooting

Justin Dennis
·1 min read
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[Watch previous FOX 8 I-Team coverage in the player above.]

CLEVELAND (WJW) — The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner said Thursday that police were not “directly responsible” for the shooting death of a 26-year-old Cleveland woman on Sunday, following an exchange of gunfire between suspects and police.

Cleveland police officers at a scene in the 10500 block of Garfield Avenue just before 5:30 a.m. on Sunday reported two vehicles “traveling at a high rate of speed” passed by, and gunshots came from one of the vehicles, Cuyahoga County sheriff spokesperson Jennifer Ciaccia told the FOX 8 I-Team on Sunday.

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Officers retuned fire and one vehicle fled, she said. The other crashed nearby.

A 26-year-old woman, later identified as Antwoina M. Carter of Cleveland, was found on the ground near the crashed car.

EMS workers transported her to a nearby hospital, where she died, according to a Thursday news release from the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Gilson.

Gilson ruled Carter died of a gunshot wound to her trunk, “with injuries of heart, lung, major vessel and spine,” reads the release.

“Preliminary testing does not indicate that police activity was directly responsible for the decedent’s death,” Gilson is quoted in the release.

The office did not provide any more information on Thursday.

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The shooting is now being investigated by the county sheriff’s office and the county’s Use of Deadly Force Team, Ciaccia previously said. Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents assisted at the scene.

Andy Gasiewski, president of Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, told the I-Team the officers shot in self-defense. The officers were not injured, he said. They have since been placed on administrative leave, as is standard practice in police-involved shootings.

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