Source: Ryan Hedrick / WIBC Radio
INDIANAPOLIS — On Saturday night, seven kids between the ages of 12 and 17 were shot downtown. The police think there might have been more than one person doing the shooting, but they haven’t arrested anyone yet.
IMPD said that they stationed 25 officers downtown to prevent incidents like this. The shooting occurred shortly after 11:30.
“Officers in the area heard shots fired at Maryland and Illinois Street,” said Deputy Chief Tanya Terry. “When they arrived at the scene, they found a large group of juveniles. They also located six of them with apparent gunshot wounds. All six of them were transported to area hospitals; one of them was in critical condition at the time and has since been upgraded to stable condition.”
Terry says that a seventh victim arrived at a local hospital. As of 2:30 am on Sunday, she confirmed that all victims are stable.
“Once again, we have a situation where young people are resolving conflict with firearms, and it has to stop,” she said. “It is extremely concerning to us that so many of our young people have been victims of gun violence tonight.”
Source: Ryan Hedrick / WIBC Radio
Downtown police have spotted a trend: many kids leave the Circle Centre Mall in big groups in the early evening. But unless a crime happens, they can only ask the kids to go home and try to scatter the crowds.
“We would ask that our parents get involved in what their children are doing,” added Terry. “Especially this late in the evening. This was on Saturday night, the day before Easter. If you don’t know where your 12-year-old is, I think that should be a priority for you.”
IMPD Chief Chris Bailey attended the press conference near the shooting. He says that investigators are reviewing surveillance footage to identify the shooter or shooters. Bailey also expressed frustration about the recent violence, especially when it involves children.
“I am extremely disappointed that we are here again talking about mass violence in our city,” he said. “We all need to look in the collective mirror and find out what more we can do to try and prevent these things from happening. I will say this: it starts at home. Someone or some persons impacted a lot of lives tonight.”
If you have any information regarding the incident, please get in touch with the IMPD homicide office at 317-327-3475 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-TIPS (8477).
