CLEVELAND — The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office has released its findings on the cause of the death of a 26-year-old woman last weekend during an exchange of gunfire involving a suspect vehicle and the Cleveland Division of Police.
The report states that Antwoina Carter of Cleveland died in the manner of homicide due to a "gunshot wound of trunk with injuries of heart, lung, major vessel and spine." However, it appears that the bullet did not come from Cleveland police officers.
"Preliminary testing does not indicate that police activity was directly responsible for the decedent's death," stated Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas P. Gilson.
According to "preliminary information" in a media release from Cuyahoga County Press Secretary Jennifer Ciaccia, members of the Cleveland Division of Police were at a service call in the 10500 block of Garfield Avenue at around 5:20 a.m.
Two vehicles drove by at a high rate of speed and police say shots were fired out of one of the cars.
After officers returned fire, one vehicle fled the scene and the other crashed nearby. Carter was found outside the vehicle and taken to University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
The Cuyahoga County Use of Deadly Force Team is investigating the shooting. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) is assisting the county's investigative team with processing the scene and collecting evidence.
No arrests have been made as of yet. The incident remains under investigation.
3News' Justin McMullen contributed to this report
