6 were shot a week ago in Downtown Indianapolis. One victim refuses to let it ruin her life.

Without God's protection, she believes what happened could have been worse. Maybe even deadly. 

The 61-year-old Noblesville woman was sweeping up after an event in Downtown Indianapolis, when the shots rang out. One bullet whizzed through the glass on the second floor and grazed her. A confrontation was unfolding on the street below. 

She was one of six people wounded after an altercation between two groups of youths around 11:20 p.m. Sept. 21 went south. Shots were fired at the busy intersection of Maryland and Illinois streets. 

Three of the victims were juveniles. Three, including the Noblesville woman, were bystanders. Their ages spanned 14 to 61.

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IndyStar is not naming the woman, because she said she fears for her safety. 

She also said she's angry about what happened to her. The incident changed her. But she refuses to let it ruin her life.

"Without the protection of God in my life, it would have been a lot worse. I really, truly believe that," she told IndyStar. "That could have been deadly for me, and it wasn’t." 

Police released a photo of a person they describe as a person of interest, but have not made any arrests. An Indianapolis Metropolitan Police report says 34 officers responded to the shooting. 

Is Downtown Indianapolis safe? 

While Indianapolis has broken its record for annual homicides for four consecutive years, violent crime is not common Downtown. 

The three census tracts that include Downtown Indianapolis — which extend farther than what most people would consider Downtown — accounted for less than 5% of the city's violent crime in 2018, according to IMPD data analyzed by IndyStar.

Between 2012 and 2018, there were 24 nonfatal shootings Downtown. Over the past decade, there have been 10 criminal homicides. That's an average of one criminal homicide per year. 

The Toll: Sign up for our newsletter that examines growing violence in Indianapolis

Still, Downtown shootings do happen.

Clark County Circuit Judge Andrew Adams, 47, pleaded guilty to battery earlier this month, after he was shot outside a Downtown Indianapolis White Castle restaurant on May 1. A second judge was also shot in the altercation, but he was not charged. 

Two other men charged in the judges' shooting — Brandon Kaiser and Alfredo Vazquez — both have a jury trial scheduled for Nov. 18. 

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The Noblesville woman injured in the latest Downtown shooting told IndyStar the incident has made her afraid to return to the area. 

"I would come back during the day. I don’t know if I’d come back at night," she said. 

More police in Downtown this weekend 

With a number of events planned Downtown this weekend, just one week after the shooting, IMPD said it will increase the number of officers patrolling the area. 

On a typical Saturday evening, around 30 IMPD officers patrol Downtown, Maj. Kendale Adams told IndyStar. This weekend, IMPD will deploy its Bicycle Response Group, which will add around eight to 10 officers, Adams said. Undercover officers and officers from IMPD's investigation division will also be Downtown, he said.

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Events in Downtown this weekend include the annual Circle City Classic, which is expected to draw 125,000 out-of-town visitors to the city, said Tanya Bell, president and CEO of Indiana Black Expo, which hosts the event. 

The Ten Point Coalition, a nonprofit organization that helps families affected by gun violence, will patrol Downtown during the event — as it does every year. 

IMPD assesses what kind of police presence is needed at Downtown events based on their threat levels, Adams said. The National Rifle Association convention, for example, requires a larger presence than Gen Con or the Circle City Classic, due to the nature of the convention, Adams said. 

Violence sparks anger, political showdown

The podium was placed on the public sidewalk at the northwest intersection of Maryland and Illinois streets. 

Rick Snyder spoke first. The president of the Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police was angry. Three days earlier, six people were wounded in the shooting that occurred about where he was standing with the Rev. Charles Harrison of the Ten Point Coalition. 

"People are being critically injured and dying in our streets, and no one seems to care," Snyder said, calling on community leaders to take action.  

Harrison called on parents to provide supervision for their children when they come to Downtown Indianapolis. 

"We want them to come Downtown, but as a parent, you have a responsibility to be responsible for your children," he said. 

Republican mayoral candidate Jim Merritt watched as Snyder and Harrison addressed media. He held his own news conference at the same intersection one day after the shooting, and blamed the violence on policies set by Democratic Mayor Joe Hogsett.

"If I were mayor last night, there would have been officers everywhere," said Merritt, who is also an Indiana state senator.

Heather Sager, Hogsett's campaign spokeswoman, said the shooting was "not partisan or political."

"Last night's shooting is a tragic example of thoughtless, violent conduct that has no place in our city," Sager said in a statement. "But it also reveals how important it is that work continues to address the root causes of such senseless acts, which far too often appear far away in time and place from the moment a trigger is pulled."

'Police obviously wasn't enough'

The Noblesville woman who was shot said she is thankful her injuries were not more serious. But she said more should have been done that night to keep people safe. 

"It needs to be more than just police out there," she said. "They need to have something else going on, because police obviously wasn’t enough. Not that night." 

She said she suffered a large hematoma as a result of the shooting, but that it is beginning to heal. Now, she said, she hopes whoever may be responsible for the shooting is caught. 

"I have prayed for the people who have done this, and not just hoping that they’re caught, but that they turn their lives around and that God has mercy on them,” she said. 

IndyStar reporters Ryan Martin, James Briggs, Vic Ryckaert and London Gibson contributed to this report. 

Call IndyStar reporter Andrew Clark at 317-444-6484 or email him at andrew.clark@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Clarky_Tweets.