Promising IU Business Graduate Killed in Downtown Indy Shooting

INDIANAPOLIS — Brett Scrogham, 23, was inside a parking garage at 101 S. Capitol Ave. early Thursday evening and on his way to join his folks at an Indianapolis Indians game at Victory Field.

A witness heard a gunshot, saw a man running from the garage, and on an upper floor moments later, officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department found Scrogham mortally wounded.

He died on Sunday.

“We are all devastated and heartbroken for the family,” said Robyn Collier, who remembered Scrogham as the neighbor who helped rescue her dogs during a house fire. “We just can’t even fathom what is going on in the world right now needs more Bretts in the world. We don’t need more violence.”

Scrogham was a top 100 student at the IU Kelley School of Business.

“With him being top 100, him getting that was very impressive, and he was very happy to get that,” said classmate James Wilson. “He potentially saw himself investing in his own low-income housing and rental properties and maybe building some apartments or something like that.”

Wilson said Scrogham proved his support by driving to Georgia to stand by his friend’s side at his wedding.

“I knew Brett very well,” Wilson said. “He was a God-fearing Christian man, and he exemplified a lot of the fruits of the Spirit. He had a fantastic servant heart. He was always willing to help people. He was such a good friend, and he was willing to drive 12 hours to come all the way down there to support me and be in my wedding. Hopefully, that’s a testament to show how much he cared and he was willing to come and support me.”

Collier said she knew Scrogham as he grew up in Greenwood.

“He spoke different languages, he was part of a search and rescue team, he did everything.”

IMPD detained and released a person at the scene of the shooting.

Investigators are encouraging those with information on the case to contact IMPD at (317) 327-3475 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at (317) 262-8477.

This is now the second homicide in downtown Indianapolis in less than a week. On the morning of the Indy 500, Gregory Anderson was shot to death in the bar district. Two other people were wounded in that shooting.

After Scrogham’s death, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett put out a statement that read, in part, “today, I am saddened to learn of the passing of the victim of last week’s random act of violence.

“Violence anywhere in our community is unacceptable, especially when it claims the life of an innocent person simply enjoying the amenities that make our city great.”

As of the start of this month, IMPD had investigated 38 homicides. At the same time last year, that total stood at 50.