Toddler in critical condition after found shot in car
UPDATE: This story has been updated to include the arrest of the child’s parents and more information about the shooting, which Indianapolis police said Wednesday was self-inflicted.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A toddler was in critical condition after a Tuesday afternoon shooting near the intersection of South Harding and West Morris streets, police say.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said Wednesday that the shooting was accidental and self-inflicted.
IMPD did not mince words when it came to the tragedy of children being shot in the city.
“First and foremost, I just want to say this is an absolute tragedy. We’ve had two children shot in Indianapolis within the last 24 hours, and this is just devastating. No family should have to go through something so terrible like this,” Officer Drew Brown from IMPD public affairs said.
Medics and IMPD officers were called just after 5:05 p.m. Tuesday to a report of a person shot at the intersection southwest of downtown Police were gathered next to the Wendy’s restaurant at the intersection while investigating the boy’s shooting.
IMPD on Wednesday announced two arrests in the shooting.
Two people were arrested for felony child neglect as a result of the incident, IMPD said Wednesday.
Anaya Velazquez and Antreaun Rice, both 26, were taken into custody for felony child neglect. Both were booked into the Marion County Jail, where they remained at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
IMPD says the shooting happened at a different location in the 2500 block of South Belmont Avenue. Detectives got a search warrant for a vehicle and located a firearm.
Police encouraged people to secure their guns. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office offers free cable-style gun locks through each branch of the Indianapolis Public Library.
“The exact circumstances of what led up to this incident are being investigated. We can’t speak enough to the face that gun ownership and gun responsibility are one and the same,” Brown said.
A Wendy’s employee who asked to remain anonymous saw a large response of first responders. “We just found out a baby was shot and that’s all we really know. It’s devastating to hear especially right in front of your face knowing it happened.”