5 people shot, 2 fatally, in separate incidents during violent Friday in Indianapolis
Indianapolis IN July 3, 2021
Two people are dead in what has been a violent Friday in Indianapolis. As of 10:30 p.m., a total of five people had been shot throughout the city. One of those shootings took place inside Castleton Square Mall.
The flurry of gun violence began shortly after 4:45 p.m., when two women were shot outside an east-side business at 38th Street and Post Road. Police reported one of the women in serious condition. The other woman, listed in critical condition, died in a hospital.
Shortly after 7 p.m., IMPD officers responded to reports of shots fired inside Castleton Square Mall. IMPD spokesperson Genae Cook said police “located a crime scene” around an entrance on the south side of the mall and learned a victim with a gunshot wound arrived at Community Hospital North. The man was in stable condition and told detectives he was shot inside the mall.
Indianapolis police responded to Castleton Square Mall on the report of a shooting Friday, July 2, 2021.
Cook said no one is in custody in relation to the incident and what led up to the shooting is still under investigation while detectives interviewed shop owners. The mall closed for the night.
Around the same time at 7 p.m., IMPD officers found a man in serious condition after being shot inside his west-side home in the 1800 block of North Berwick Avenue. Cook said investigators believe the shooting occurred during a robbery. Police are looking for a black SUV that witnesses saw leaving the scene.
Another shooting on the east side, at 30th Street and Sherman Drive, was reported before 7:15 p.m. IMPD officers found a vehicle had crashed into a building, and a man inside the car had gunshot wounds. He died at a hospital.
Cook said none of the shootings appear to be random or linked, noting several IMPD officers and detectives worked multiple violent scenes tonight.
“It’s very important for us, as a community, to step up,” she said. “As the police, we’re running a defense, we can’t be man to man.”
Friday’s shootings mark another violent weekend in the city. A downtown shootout sent bullets through businesses and cars on Meridian Street around 1 a.m. Sunday. No one was injured.
IMPD officials said the department is beefing up patrols downtown in preparation for the city’s July Fourth celebration and fireworks, which are slated for 10 p.m. Sunday.
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