INDIANAPOLIS– A violent ten hours in Indianapolis left five people shot and one man dead. At the same time, the city remains on a record pace for murders this year.
Starting on Edgemont avenue around 6:30 p.m. Thursday, police say a large group of teens got into a dispute which ended with one teenager shot in the head and in critical condition.
Just 30 minutes later, another man walked into a local hospital after being shot in the elbow.
Forty minutes after that, near 30th and Central, a man identified as Orlando Martin Jr. was shot and killed following a disturbance involving a stolen car.
That string of shootings left police exhausted and frustrated.
“We’re not starting off a pleasant evening. There’s a lot of violence so far,” said IMPD Major Harold Turner.
Then, just before sunrise, a man and woman were shot and wounded near 30th and Keystone when a series of gunshots left a car riddled with bullets and woke up neighbors like Amy Harwell.
“To have something like this happen so close to home is heartbreaking,” said Harwell. “What are you doing out at three o’clock in the morning? You should be at home sleep. Why are you out creating problems?”
The deadly shooting on Central marks the 86th homicide of the year. That is a huge increase compared to the 63 killings at the same time last year.
“Those numbers are really high. Obviously anytime you have a homicide, it’s too many,” said IMPD chief Randal Taylor.
Chief Taylor admits he’s not sure what is fueling all the deadly violence. Drugs and personal conflicts remain some of the leading causes.
“It’s a gamut of thing and we reach out to community to help people deal with whatever causes them to pull the trigger. We know it’s never the solution to a problem,” said Taylor.
The chief also thinks the emotional trauma of a year filled with a pandemic and racial tensions may also be a factor.
“Why it’s so high this year is hard to answer. We’ve had a number of challenges. People might argue COVID had something to do with it. People are frustrated they had to stay inside,” said Taylor.
So far police have not released information on any arrests from any of the shootings. Anyone with information is still asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 317-262-TIPS (8477).
