What began as a response to a violent incident on Thursday afternoon tragically ended with the death of a 27-year-old man identified as Austin Hust of Cincinnati, following a high-speed police pursuit. The deadly crash has left both law enforcement and residents shaken, as investigators work to piece together the chain of events that turned a neighborhood emergency into a fatal chase.
According to the Cincinnati Police Department, officers were dispatched to a home on Westwood Northern Boulevard around 2 p.m. after reports of a shooting or stabbing. Upon arriving at the scene, police spotted a man fleeing the area on a motorcycle, prompting a pursuit that wound its way through city streets toward the West End near Union Terminal. The chase came to a devastating end when Hust lost control of his motorcycle and crashed near the intersection of Dalton and Hopkins streets, where he was pronounced dead by emergency responders.
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Authorities confirmed that Hust was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, a factor believed to have contributed to the severity of his injuries. Members of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) verified that multiple officers were involved in the pursuit and that the scene was secured immediately following the crash.
Meanwhile, the original victim from the Westwood Northern Boulevard incident was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment. Officials have not disclosed the nature of their injuries or whether the two events are directly connected. Investigators now face the complex task of unraveling the relationship between the initial emergency call and the subsequent chase that ended in tragedy.
Residents in the West End described a large police presence Thursday afternoon, with streets blocked off as detectives combed the area for evidence. Both the crash site and the Westwood residence are being treated as active crime scenes, according to officials.
“This remains a complex and evolving investigation,” a Cincinnati Police spokesperson said. “We are working to understand what led to the initial incident and what unfolded in the moments leading up to the crash.”
The Hamilton County Coroner’s Office will determine Hust’s official cause of death following an autopsy. Police have not confirmed whether Hust was directly involved in the earlier shooting or stabbing, and no arrests related to that case have been announced.
Anyone with information regarding the events of Thursday afternoon is urged to contact the Cincinnati Police Homicide Unit or reach out anonymously through Crime Stoppers at (513) 352-3040.
The investigation remains ongoing as the city of Cincinnati grapples with the aftermath of a day that began in chaos and ended in heartbreak.