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Randolph Ward, 27, was shot dead in a stranger's work truck after a Nov. 17, 2009, Cincinnati traffic stop that police said became a foot chase and gunfire involving four officers.

Officer Greg Toyeas pulled over a car near the Kroger on Mitchell Avenue after police said the driver made a right turn that cut off his cruiser. Police identified the driver as Ward and said he did not produce a license. When Toyeas ordered him out of the car, police said, Ward showed a handgun. Toyeas backed away and drew his own weapon but did not fire.

Ward ran behind the store toward a set of railroad tracks, where Sgt. William Watts and Officer Jerome Enneking came across him, according to police. Watts fired two shots after Ward pointed a gun in their direction, police said. Both missed.

Ward then pointed the gun at two men who were changing a tire in a nearby car wash lot and climbed into their truck, police said. Neither man was hurt. Officer Shyane Schneider fired her Taser at Ward twice. Police said Ward fired three shots, and Enneking and Officer Kevin Newman, who was in plain clothes, fired back. Newman fired 13 rounds and Enneking four. Ward was hit and died at the scene. No officer was wounded.

Ward had two outstanding misdemeanor warrants and a traffic capias and was on probation at the time of the stop, police said.

The day after the shooting, Police Chief Thomas Streicher played cruiser camera footage and surveillance video from the car wash lot at a news conference. "Everything we see here is in compliance," Streicher said of the officers' actions, adding that the shooting had taken a toll on the officers involved and on Ward's family. Mayor Mark Mallory said the day "ended in tragedy because of the decisions of Mr. Ward." Because Ward died at the scene, he was never charged and the sequence police described was never tested in court.

The recording attached here is the Cincinnati police dispatch radio traffic from the incident, not a call from a member of the public. It runs about three and a half minutes and follows the encounter essentially in real time, from the stop through the gunfire and the response that followed. It comes off a channel logging tape rather than a single conversation, so routine traffic unrelated to the shooting runs alongside the officers who were dealing with Ward.