Police thwarted a potentially “catastrophic” event by killing an armed suspect near the Music Hall

Warning: This video contains graphic images and profanity.

CINCINNATI (WXIX) – An armed man who Cincinnati police say stabbed a woman, forced officers on a chase and was killed Thursday near Music Hall has been identified.

Juan Mack, 48, was shot and killed by Cincinnati police around 7:15 p.m., Police Chief Teresa Theetge announced Friday.

Video played during Friday’s news conference showed Mack, who was clearly holding a gun, walking toward the Music Hall and across the street from Washington Park.

The footage shows guests waiting to enter the Music Hall for an event as a gunman, a 48-year-old man, walks toward them while police chase him.

Juan Mack, 48, was shot and killed by Cincinnati police about 7:15 p.m., Police Chief Teresa Theetge said Friday.(WXIX)

Chief Theetge said officers repeatedly ordered Mack to stop and put down his weapon, but he refused. Nonlethal force was used, the chief said, because Mack had been shot in the leg, but it had no effect.

Further commands to drop the weapon were heard, but Mack did not obey and even shouted: “If you fire that (gun), I will start shooting,” the chief reported.

According to Chief Theetge, the 48-year-old then raised the gun.

The chief said “many, many people’s lives were in danger” and four officers shot Mack outside Music Hall.

Police Chief Teresa Theetge said Juan Mack raised a gun, which caused Cincinnati police officers to use deadly force.(XIX)

The situation that ended in the officer-involved shooting began about 30 minutes earlier on Cincinnati’s west side.

At approximately 6:45 p.m., a 911 call was made and a person reported that a woman had been stabbed nearly 10 times.

The caller told the dispatcher that a woman jumped out of the car and a man, whom police identified as Mack, ran after her.

A description of the Toyota Camry was provided to officers. Chief Theetge said the vehicle was spotted in Price Hill three minutes after 7 p.m.

Mack refused to stop and call police, and a pursuit ensued.

As the police chief explained on Friday, during the chase, bloody Mack pointed his gun at the policemen.

According to the police chief, Mack stopped the vehicle at the intersection of 12th Street and West Elm Street about 10 minutes into the pursuit.

“Everything pointed to a catastrophic incident” – this is how Commander Theetge described the situation.

After stopping his vehicle, the armed 48-year-old drove north on Elm Street toward the Music Hall before he was fatally shot by officers.

Chief Theetge said that due to Marcy’s Law, the four officers who fired will not be identified.

The woman Mack is accused of stabbing is in critical condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, according to the chief.

Juan Mack’s Criminal History

Court records show Mack’s criminal past dates back to the 1990s.

Court documents show he was convicted of assault and two counts of domestic violence in a 1996 case. Mack was sentenced to just over a year and a half in prison.

He was later charged in 2016 with making aggravated threats, but court records show that charge was dismissed.

Records show that in 2023, Mack was arrested for assault after being accused of punching a woman in the face, but that case was also dismissed.

The April 2024 attack was also dismissed.

Court records show he was fined in June 2024 for failing to report an accident and driving without proper supervision.

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