27-year-old charged with attempted murder in mass stabbing at strip mall
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A 27-year-old man accused of stabbing multiple people outside of a northwest side strip mall on June 17 now faces multiple charges in Marion County.
Estinfil Filsmagre faces two counts of attempted murder, a count of aggravated battery, and three counts of battery with a deadly weapon, all felonies.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department says officers were dispatched to the 7100 block of Woodland Drive around 3:40 a.m. on June 17 on a report that multiple people had been stabbed during a disturbance.
That’s outside the Woodland Shoppes and Miami’s Garden restaurant and lounge off 71st Street, just east of Interstate 465.
“The thing that is frustrating about this case is again we had an argument taking place among a number of people . What we are alleging is that this person [Filsmagre] injected themselves into that argument and from there it was chaos,” said Ryan Mears, Marion County prosecutor.
Police say nine people were stabbed in a fight that stemmed from two groups of people. Filsmagre was among the people who were injured, court documents say, and was taken to Eskenazi Hospital in critical condition.
One of the victims, a female, was located on the sidewalk in front of a Dollar Tree and was taken to St. Vincent Hospital Hospital in critical condition with a stab wound to the chest. Two male victims were taken to St. Vincent Hospital with injuries.
Police say multiple others were injured and treated at the scene.
A probable cause affidavit obtained by News 8 described many objects found at the stabbing scene as covered with blood.
A silver GMC Acadia was seen to have multiple broken windows with damage to the driver’s hood.
Blood was splattered throughout the parking lot, with multiple broken and bloody glass bottles and a bloody rock from inside the GMC. Trash was spread throughout the parking lot bloody clothing, and a red-handled knife was found in the wood line on the south side of the parking lot.
According to court documents, a man who was stabbed told detectives he was at the lounge for a friend’s birthday party. As he was leaving, he saw a fight outside between three men. One of the men involved started stabbing people.
An armed security guard from Miami Gardens told detectives he was alerted of the fight when he was escorting an intoxicated female from the bar. The security guard saw the man with the knife get into the back seat of a gray car. The people who were fighting then started breaking the car’s windows out.
In surveillance footage from the lounge, detectives saw Filsmagre, seen wearing a white shirt and camo pants, walking outside the restaurant on the sidewalk to meet a female at 3:31 a.m.
In the footage, the fight broke out after a man punched another man. According to police, Filsmagre was seen walking toward the fight and reaching into his right pant pocket, unfolding what appeared to be a knife.
Filsmagre was seen walking behind multiple men and stabbing at least one from behind. A witness told detectives Filsmagre tried to get away in a car to leave but a female, who happened to be an off-duty security employee, tried to stop him before she was stabbed in the chest.
“It’s unfortunate, that the person most seriously injured was the security guard who was really trying to serve as a peacemaker,” Mears said. Doctors said her puncture wound was an inch away from her heart. Another man is also recovering from serious injuries. He was there to celebrate a friend’s birthday.
After the stabbing, Filsmagre was seen on camera running away as multiple people chased after him. One of the men caught up to him, and footage showed multiple people joining in on the fight, knocking Filsmagre unconscious on the south side of the parking lot.
“This was an entirely preventable situation that didn’t need to occur because people didn’t know how to resolve a dispute without resorting to violence,” Mears said.
Following the stabbing, Miami’s Garden was closed by the Pike Township Fire Marshal.
Filsmagre was arrested and is being held at the Marion County Jail, according to online records. His initial court hearing was set for July 12 at 9 a.m.
