IMPD: Block party shooting leaves 1 dead, 3 injured
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A shooting during a block party on the city’s east side left one person dead and three others injured, police say.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were called just after 11 p.m. Monday to a shooting at Forest Manor Avenue and 32nd Street near Forest Manor Elementary School.
Police arrived and found a 16-year-old girl who had been shot. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Within the next half hour, three people with gunshot wounds arrived at local hospitals. A fourth person later showed up at the hospital with injuries that were not gunshot wounds, IMPD says.
Investigators believe a fight began during the block party and shots were fired. No arrests have been made and police did not share any suspect information.
Several damaged cars remained at the scene Tuesday morning. Investigators say the cars were banged up by people trying to leave the party.
Just hours after the incident occurred, investigators were still on the scene with several evidence markers. Some people that live near the scene say they feared for their lives.
“Scared for my dad’s life and our life. My dad sleeps in the front room, and he has two big oxygen tanks,” Jeremy Snider said.
“I was scared a whole lot, (with) the gunshots and the stuff like that,” Jeremy’s father David said.
What was supposed to be a fun gathering turned into a nightmare for this neighborhood.
Donald Edwards Jr., pastor at Church of Glory, says it started with a lot of yelling.
“There was a lot of yelling with people parked on the side of the street, then the next thing you know, we heard fireworks, and then you heard what sounded like gunshots,” Edwards said.
Edwards says that after that, kids started to scatter and run. “That’s when we started seeing the officers come, and the young lady’s body on the ground,” he said.
Church of Glory is close by where the shooting occurred. “Our church door has a bullet hole. It didn’t go all the way through, but it hit the door. You can see the dimple on the inside of it,” Edwards said.
He says he was able to comfort the family of the victim killed at the party.
“What they told me she was a straight A student, that she was an honor roll student, and it’s just very sad. (She was) a good girl,” Edwards said.
He says he is thinking about her family.
“We talked to them and just tried to encourage them. At the very end, once they identified the body, we prayed for them and just gave them so encouragement,” Edwards said.
Anyone with information was asked to contact Detective Kyle Hoover at the IMPD Homicide Office at 317-327-3475 or by email at Kyle.Hoover@Indy.gov.
Anonymous tips can be left with Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana by calling 317-262-TIPS, downloading the P3tips app for Apple or Android phones, or going to www.CrimeTips.org.
