At least seven children between the ages of 12 and 17 were wounded in a shooting Saturday night in downtown Indianapolis, where a large group was gathered, police said.
Officers were on patrol when they heard “several shots actively being fired” near the Circle Centre Mall around 11:30 p.m. local time, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
They rushed to the scene to find “a large group of juveniles,” including six with gunshot wounds, Indianapolis Police Deputy Chief Tanya Terry told reporters Sunday morning.
All the wounded children were taken to local hospitals, and a seventh arrived later at an area hospital, Terry said. All the victims are in stable condition.
It’s unclear what led to the shooting or how many people opened fire. No suspects were in custody as of Sunday morning, according to Indianapolis police.
Police believe multiple firearms were involved and are investigating the scene, Terry said.
“It is extremely concerning to us that so many of our young people have been victims of gun violence this evening,” Terry said, “Once again, we have a situation where young people are resolving conflict with gun violence, and it has to stop.”
Police didn’t provide information on the nature of the gathering, but Terry said police have noticed in the evenings a large crowd of juveniles moving around the downtown area.
This was the third weekend in a row Indianapolis police have responded to a mass shooting, prompting more officers to be present downtown.
Last weekend, one person was killed and five others, including an off-duty Indianapolis Metro police officer, were injured in a shooting outside a bar. The previous weekend, one person was killed and five others were wounded in a shooting in a nightclub in Indy’s busy Broad Ripple neighborhood.
Terry added more than 25 officers were patrolling the area Saturday to prevent such activity from happening.
“We’re always trying to prevent something like this,” Terry said in a news conference. “Downtown Commander Burton has already changed resources and directed resources to try to address these juvenile crowds before they get started, and have officers come in earlier to address that and stay on top of it. All of our resources will be directed at preventing this kind of crime.”
Terry said parents need to make more of an effort to know exactly where their children are to avoid incidents like this.
“I think everybody sees the messages in the evening at 10 p.m., ‘Parents, do you know where your children are?’ And we would ask for parents to get involved in what their children are doing, especially at these hours of the evening,” Terry said. “This was at 11:30 at night, the evening right before Sunday Easter. So, if you don’t know where your 12-year-old is, I think that should be a priority for you.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.