Faith leader claims west side street party led to fatal shooting
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The gravel alleyway between West 25th and 26th streets was filled Monday morning with emotional family members of the man who was found fatally shot inside a vehicle.
The family did not want to speak on camera, but one person told I-Team 8 that the large number of people who came out to mourn him showed how loved he was.
A crime scene technician appeared to be pulling fingerprints from the vehicle, where police say the man was found. When a tow truck took it away, I-Team 8 did not see any shattered windows.
The crime scene was half a block west of Martin Luther King Boulevard, where hundreds of people partied on Sunday night, shutting down the street.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has not said if the two incidents were related. The Rev. Charles Harrison, senior pastor at Barnes United Methodist Church and Board and president of the Indianapolis Ten Point Coalition, lives in the area and believes they are.
“Certainly I think it was related,” Harrison said. “We have someone that is dead in an alley this morning. That’s about the fourth or fifth person that’s been killed from these Sunday events in this neighborhood. That has to be considered unacceptable, and until we can fix that, we cannot continue to have these kinds of events.”
Mayor Joe Hogsett’s office told I-Team 8 they are working closely with IMPD to prevent large gatherings like the one on Sunday from happening. In the meantime, IMPD said they need help from the community to solve this murder.
Right now, police aren’t sure exactly when the man was shot. Police said it could have been between 11 p.m. Sunday to around 7 a.m. Monday, when they were called to the scene.
“It’s a large timeframe and we understand that, but again, we’re still trying to piece together what occurred. So, we want to make sure that that window is wide enough so that our community members can go back, check their ring doorbell cameras, check any surveillance video that they might have that can help us figure out what happened,” said IMPD Public Information Officer Simone Burris.
Anyone with information was asked to contact the IMPD Homicide Office at 217-327-3475. Anonymous tips can be left with Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-TIPS.