A shooting in West Price Hill on Sunday night was the city's 33rd homicide of 2002, leaving a 25-year-old man dead as police looked for his assailant, who fled.

        University Hospital officials confirmed that Gary Royce, 25, no address available, was brought into the hospital at about 10:40 p.m. and was pronounced dead.

        Police searched the neighborhood for two suspects, who fled in a mid-size blue General Motors car, according to witnesses.

        The victim was shot once in the side of the head with a handgun, said Cincinnati Police Department Lt. Steve Kramer, one of the investigators at the scene.

        Witnesses told the police that the victim and the suspects, who police said are brothers, ages 23 and 26, were seen together earlier in the day. “Apparently they had words earlier today and this was just a carryover from that,” Lt. Kramer said.

        The shooting took place in the front yard of an apartment building at 1214 Rutledge, behind a United Dairy Farmers store.

        Kelsey Hensley, 8, who had come to the store, heard the shots. Her 10-year-old brother was still inside the store when Kelsey became frightened and rode her bicycle about a half-block to tell her mother, who called police, the girl and her mother said Sunday night.

        Police took more than five witnesses away in cruisers to interview them about the shooting.

Annual Red Cross meeting Friday

        The Cincinnati Red Cross will hold its 97th annual meeting at a noon luncheon Friday june14 at the Albert B. Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center, Fifth and Elm streets, downtown.

        The organization will honor 10 local companies that supported the Red Cross with time and money following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

        Ken Thompson, whose mother was killed in the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing, will speak on his first-hand experience with terrorism.

        Tickets are $35. Information and reservations: 579-3911.

Food bank raises funds with delicacies

        Cincinnati's primary food bank raised between $40,000 and $50,000 at a fine food, wine and beer tasting Sunday at Tower Place Mall.

        FreeStore/FoodBank directly provides 1,200 Cincinnati residents with food each month, as well as 500 food pantries, emergency shelters and other agencies in a 20-county Tristate area.

        About 25 of Cincinnati's upscale restaurants, wine purveyors and breweries served “tastes” of appetizers, entrees and desserts in the mall's food court.

        The first annual ""Generous Helpings” raised needed funds for the summer months, when donations are at their lowest.

        “A lot of these folks are working poor families,” said Jan Seidel, FreeStore/FoodBank's director of development.

        Ms. Seidel said half the agency's donations come in during the holidays, although more food is needed during the summer months when children, who usually receive free or reduced breakfast and lunch, are out of school.

Bomb-sniffing dogs used in standoff

        Cincinnati police used one of their three new bomb-detecting canines for the first time Sunday in a six-hour SWAT standoff that peacefully ended when a man barricaded inside his Mount Airy apartment surrendered.

        Robert Dewille Jr., 42, of 2732 W. North Bend Road., gave up about 9:30 a.m. after police threw a “flash bang” grenade in an apartment window. The device emits an explosion and bright light to disorient suspects.

        Mr. Dewille faces a charge of felonious assault after allegedly punching, kicking, trying to choke and using a taser gun on his brother during a 3:30 a.m. fight Sunday, police records show.

        He also was charged with domestic violence after his wife told police he hurled a card table at her and punched her twice in the stomach, according to police records.

        Mr. Dewille was “highly intoxicated,” claimed he was armed with explosives, and threatened to blow up the four-unit building, said Lt. Kurt Byrd, police spokesman.

        Dinah, a 2-year-old golden Labrador retriever, was called to the scene with her handler, Spec. Greg Ventre, but no explosives were found, Lt. Byrd said. Dinah and two other department bomb dogs just graduated from the police academy last week; in the past, Cincinnati police borrowed bomb dogs from the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office and the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

        Mr. Dewille is being held at the Hamilton County Justice Center and appears today in court.

Walnut Hills girl missing for 2 days

        A Walnut Hills girl with mild mental retardation was last seen Saturday night at a Lockhurst Lane family residence.

        Police are looking for Latifa Jamild Collins, 11, who left her aunt's home without permission at 11 p.m. Saturday.

        Ms. Collins, who was wearing pink shorts and a white shirt, is black, about 5 feet tall and weighs 120 pounds.

        Anyone with information is asked to contact Cincinnati Police at 352-3505 or 352-6474.

Colerain robbery suspects at large

        Three men, at least two armed with handguns, forced their way into a Colerain Township residence Sunday, tied up five residents, ransacked the home, and left with an undetermined amount of cash.

        The home invasion robbery occurred about 1:30 p.m. at a townhouse in the 9200 block of Roundtop Road, the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office said.

        The suspects were seen leaving the area in an older brown Nissan.

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