Motive sought in killing at Kmart

A man walked into a Kmart store in Colerain Township and fatally shot an employee Tuesday, then critically wounded a customer who was among bystanders trying to chase him down, the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office said. Police pursued the suspect through Colerain Township into Cincinnati, where the man killed himself after officers stopped his car. The shooter was identified as Paul Faith, 25, of Green Township.

The shooting began in the store at 8451 Colerain Ave. about 7:30 p.m. when a man entered the business, walked to a rear aisle, pulled out a semi-automatic handgun and shot a worker there, the sheriff's office said.

"The suspect fired at least two rounds," said sheriff's office spokesman Steve Barnett.

The employee, Paul Heid, 22, of the 3400 block of Chuckfield Drive, Colerain Township, died at the scene, Barnett said.

Witnesses said after the shooting started inside the store, customers scrambled for cover, but several realized what had happened and began chasing the man as he left the store.

The man turned as he was fleeing and fired several shots at his pursuers. One -- James Patrick Daly, 46, of the 9400 block of Rockport Drive in Mount Healthy -- was hit, the sheriff's office said.

He was listed in critical condition Tuesday night at University Hospital.

The shooter continued running through the store parking lot, where he fired a round at Sheriff's Deputy Mike Robbins, who was on foot, the sheriff's office said.

Robbins, who was not hurt, fired one shot at the shooter as he got into his car, the sheriff's department said. The shot missed.

Sheriff's deputies and Colerain Township police officers pursued the car south on Colerain Avenue.

Cincinnati officers joined the pursuit in Millvale and used road spikes to stop the car on Beekman Avenue.

When officers approached the car, they found Faith dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, the sheriff's office said.

Cincinnati police said they were investigating Faith's death as a suicide.

The sheriff's office was still trying to determine a motive for the shooting today.

It was unclear whether the shooting was random or the gunman specifically targeted Heid.

Publication Date: 08-25-2004