Shots fired at Anderson Twp. teenager came from residence connected to Joe Mixon, report says

Quinlan Bentley, Cincinnati Enquirer
·2 min read

Shots fired at an Anderson Township teenager came from a home connected to Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon, according to an incident report released Thursday by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.

According to the report, officers were dispatched around 8:25 p.m. on Monday to the 7900 block of Ayers Road.

Two juvenile witnesses told deputies they were playing "dart wars" with the 16-year-old victim at his house. The teenager ran around the side of his house with a Nerf-style toy gun when an unknown suspect started firing a gun from the backyard of the house tied to Mixon.

Witnesses and the victim told deputies the suspect fired around 11 shots at the teen and continued to fire as he was running away. The teen was struck in the foot and hid nearby until the shots ceased and he was able to make it inside his home.

He was later taken to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center with the bullet still lodged in his foot. A dispatch report said the juvenile tried to decline medical attention and that his father is a doctor.

Deputies stopped a black Honda seen leaving the residence from which the gunshots were fired. Investigators recovered the Nerf gun and three shell casings, as well as a rifle that was found inside the Honda, the report said.

Sheriff deputies were on the scene of this home on Ayers Road in Anderson Township Monday evening after a report of shots fired outside. A juvenile was shot in the foot and taken to the hospital.
Sheriff deputies were on the scene of this home on Ayers Road in Anderson Township Monday evening after a report of shots fired outside. A juvenile was shot in the foot and taken to the hospital.

The sheriff's office said Thursday that its investigative team is conducting interviews and reviewing evidence. No charges have been filed in connection with the shooting.

The Enquirer reached out to the Bengals and Mixon's agent Peter Schaffer. Neither responded to phone calls and texts.

In a newsletter to parents sent Feb. 17, Turpin High School principal David Spencer addressed dart wars. Turpin is in the Forest Hills School District along with Anderson High School. Anderson officials confirmed the juvenile injured on Monday was a student there.

Spencer explained that this is a student-led activity that is not school-sponsored. He said the game cannot be played on school grounds or disrupt education in any way.

He encouraged parents to talk to their kids about safety. He said the game has led students to hide around homes, drive recklessly and make unsafe decisions. Over the past several years, the sheriff's office has been called at least once each year about dart wars.

Enquirer reporter Cameron Knight contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Shots fired at teenager came from residence connected to Joe Mixon