A shooting in Cincinnati’s Western Hills neighborhood on the afternoon of Friday, December 19, 2025, left 35-year-old Craig Gaines dead. Officers were sent to the 2300 block of Ferguson Road near Western Hills Square at about 1:17 p.m. and found Gaines with a gunshot wound. He was transported by the Cincinnati Fire Department to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center but died en route, a death later confirmed by the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office.

As of late December 2025 the Cincinnati Police Department’s Homicide Unit had not identified any suspects or made arrests. Investigators describe the case as active and are asking the public for information that could help piece together what happened.

If anyone saw activity around Ferguson Road or Western Hills Square that afternoon, or has information about Craig Gaines’s death, please contact the Homicide Unit.