Central Indiana sees sharp increase in interstate shootings
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — According to police, there has been a more than 200% increase in interstate shootings in central Indiana over the past two years. In 2019, Indiana State Police investigated, on average, one a month. Now, they investigate more than one a week.
Early Monday morning on Interstate 465 on the west side near the Crawfordsville Road exit, police found one person dead and a second injured when someone opened fire on a vehicle in the northbound lanes.
Police shut down the interstate as they collected evidence. The potential crime scene was spread over a couple of miles.
Shootings on interstates are becoming all too familiar to police. State Police in central Indiana are called at least once a day for a road rage incident that involves a gun.
“It is not uncommon for us to get 911 calls of road rage where somebody is displaying a firearm or pointing a firearm without shots being fired. So, unfortunately, it is becoming more common for road rage to lead to violence,” said ISP Sgt. John Perrine.
The interstate shooting this morning has not been labeled a road rage incident. It happened around 3:30, well before rush hour, and police say most road rage incidents happen during rush hour.
In 2019, ISP investigated 12 interstate shootings. In 2020, it was 23. This year, ISP has investigated 64 interstate shootings.
“As we investigate these, we learn more and more, but the motives are often different for each one, so it is hard to develop a specific pattern on why these are happening,” said Perrine.
Without a clear motive on what has driven the increase over the past two years, it is expected that the increase will continue.