Shooting On Cincinnati Street Labeled Hate Crime

Shot Strikes Victim In Leg; Victim Performs In Local Clubs

[CINCINNATI, OH] - A shooting on a local street early Wednesday is being called a hate crime by police.

Jamar Erkins, 22, who also goes by the name Tiffany Erkins, was shot in the leg just after 3 a.m. while walking on Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine, WLWT Eyewitness News 5 reported.

Erkins told police that two men pulled up in a car while she waited at a bus stop. The men yelled anti-homosexual slurs and fired five or six shots, police said.

One bullet struck Erkins in the lower right leg. She was taken to University Hospital for treatment and released.

The suspects fled north on Vine Street, WLWT reported.

Erkins told WLWT she is a transsexual person who is going through the process of becoming a woman. She has been performing at local clubs for about two years as a female impersonator.

Erkins said she's been the target of insulting remarks in the past, but nothing as violent as gunfire.

"At the bars I perform at, there are some nice, friendly people," she said. "They come to see me and my friends perform, or whoever's in the show, see them perform and everything's OK."

The suspects were described as two black men in their 20's. One of the suspects has gold lower teeth and was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, police said.

Additional information is not available.