Gender-Reveal Party Shooting Takes Strange Twist

Cops say victim wasn't pregnant
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 18, 2017 1:30 AM CDT
Cops: Woman Shot at Gender-Reveal Party Wasn't Pregnant
Colerain Township Police Chief Mark Denney speaks to reporters about the shooting.   (Cameron Knight/The Cincinnati Enquirer via AP)

A bizarre twist in the mass shooting at a gender-reveal party near Cincinnati earlier this month: Police say that Cheyanne Willis, the woman hosting the party to disclose the gender of her unborn child, wasn't pregnant at the time. Willis, 21, was shot in the leg and claimed she lost her baby after the shooting, the New York Daily News reports. Seven other people were injured in the shooting and 22-year-old Autum Garrett was killed. "Hours and days have been wasted following leads known to be lies when they were provided to our officers," Colerain Township Police Chief Mark Denney said Monday, adding that investigators have met "significant resistance that is uncommon from victims of crime wanting a resolution."

Denney said that "all we have at this point is speculation" about why Willis would hold a gender-reveal party when she wasn't pregnant, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Police say prosecutors will decide whether Willis will face charges for lying to investigators, WCPO reports. In a 2015 incident Willis was filmed being beaten and having her hair cut off, but two people arrested for robbery in the case were never prosecuted. It's not clear whether that incident was related to the July 8 party shooting, in which two men walked into the home and fired 14 rounds at a group of people, including several children, who were watching a movie. Police haven't made any arrests or disclosed a possible motive. (More mass shootings stories.)

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