Cincinnati bank employees back at work after shooting
CINCINNATI — The husband of a bank executive who was shot at least 12 times publicly thanked police and emergency medical caregivers Monday for saving her life.
With yellow crime tape still sealing off the lobby entrance, employees returned to work at the downtown high-rise that is Fifth Third Bancorp’s headquarters building, where four people, including the gunman, were killed last week. One gunshot victim was released from the hospital Monday, while the other remained hospitalized in fair condition.
The husband of Whitney Austin, a Fifth Third vice president and 37-year-old mother of two young children, offered public praise for police, first responders and hospital staffers.
“We are still unpacking how she survived the initial assault, especially after the shooter returned to fire more rounds into her body,” Waller Austin said in a statement. He praised the bravery of the four Cincinnati Police officers — Jennifer Chilton, Gregory Toyeas, Antonio Etter and Eric Kaminsky — who stopped the gunman.
“My wife is alive today because you refused to allow the shooter to continue his rampage — you are my heroes, and my children will know that they will have their mother and hold her, too, because of YOUR actions,” he wrote. He said another officer, Al Staples, carried her to safety, comforting her and helping to keep her calm before she was taken to the hospital.
He also thanked Fifth Third and co-workers for all their support and the community for prayers.
“I am not a religious man, and often question my faith or what God is, but I believe in prayer and ‘miracle’ is the only word I know that could accurately describe what happened to Whitney,” Austin wrote. “We are blessed. Thank you so much …”
A Cincinnati hospital said one of two people who survived gunshot wounds was released Monday.
University of Cincinnati Medical Center wouldn’t identify the released patient, citing privacy restrictions.