A mass shooting has left five people dead, including a pregnant woman, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Authorities have described it as the city's “largest mass casualty shooting in over a decade.”
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) received a 911 call before 4am local time on Sunday. Responding officers discovered “a juvenile male with apparent gunshot wounds,” before they entered the house which was the scene of the mass shooting less than a block away.
The bodies of five people, including a pregnant woman and her unborn child, were discovered. The victims were identified by police as Kezzie Childs, 42; Raymond Childs, 42; Elijah Childs, 18; Rita Childs, 13; Kiara Hawkins, 19; and Hawkins' baby.
Police believe more than one shooter may have carried out the atrocity, and authorities have struggled to find the words to describe the horrors perpetrated.
“What happened this morning was not an act of simple gun violence. ... What happened this morning was a mass murder,” Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said during a press conference.
“This does not appear to be a random act,” IMPD Sgt. Shane Foley told reporters.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Randall Taylor said on Sunday that no suspects have yet been identified, though forensic investigations at the scene of the shooting continue. The US Attorney's office and FBI have been called in to assist in the investigation.
The horrific incident, which the chief described as a “different kind of evil,” comes amid a recent spate of gun violence in the city, which registered a grim record of 245 homicides in 2020, marking a 40 percent increase from the previous year.
BREAKING: Latest Acts of Violence bring INDY to at least 83 people shot, 17 people stabbed with 20 Homicides in the first 24 days of 2021 | That’s at least 100 people shot or stabbed averaging 4+ incidents per day (Follows 245 Homicides last year) #Tragic#Reality#CityInCrisispic.twitter.com/Vj3HeuQYEZ
The newly installed Biden administration has vowed “to defeat the NRA (National Rifle Association) and end our epidemic of gun violence.” The gun rights advocacy group responded by warning Americans that their president is seeking to infringe on their constitutional rights and “wants to ban our semi-auto rifles, tax our guns” and “more.”
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