INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is investigating multiple deaths across the city after a violent weekend.
Three people are dead and one man is fighting for his life as of Monday night following a shooting on the northeast side.
On Saturday night, officers responded to the 500 block of N. Traub Avenue on the near west side just before 11 p.m. IMPD said 38-year-old Robert Underwood died at the hospital after he was shot.
“It is terrible our society has gotten to this point,” said Cleve Bottom who lives on that street.
Early Sunday morning, officers responded to the area of South and Meridian streets in downtown. They said 33-year-old Jeffery Reed was shot and killed after a disturbance. Police eventually arrested 30-year-old Eric Middlebrook at the crime scene.
Last year, IMPD returned to community-based beat policing, rolling out 78 beats across the city that allow officers to get out of their cars and increase engagement in the areas they serve. The department said this increased engagement meant the arresting officer was in the right place to take swift action and apprehend the suspect without incident before he could cause further violence.
In 2019, IMPD will increase the focus on neighborhood policing, shrinking the geographic areas of beats while increasing the number to 106 by the end of the year.
“We are going to continue to do the same thing we have been doing, putting pressure on the criminals after they commit crimes in our city,” said Aaron Hamer, a spokesperson for IMPD.
About 24 hours after the shooting in downtown, a person was critically injured after a shooting on the northeast side of Indianapolis. It happened around 3:30 a.m. on Monday in a neighborhood near East 46th Street and Mitthoeffer Road.
Police then found a woman’s body in an alley on the east side. They are considering that case a death investigation. They do not know yet how she died.
“It’s nerve-racking to see this kind of stuff,” said Marshall Worthington, a neighbor.
Worthington was surprised to learn a dead woman was found near his home. He said several children play at a baseball field right across the street from where police found her.
“Makes you want to constantly watch out what is happening around your neighborhood,” he said.
IMPD said the two killings this weekend brought the total number of homicides this year to 60. Last year on the same date, there were 66. Those numbers include self-defense.
