Indianapolis police are investigating a mass shooting that killed five people and a pregnant woman’s unborn baby and a community is reeling from what the mayor called “an act of evil.”
Authorities gave little information about the victims or the motive, but said the FBI and federal prosecutors had been warned.
“I want those responsible to know that the full power of local, state and federal law enforcement is coming to them,” said Mayor Joe Hogsett.
“I’ll come get them today, come get them tonight, come get them tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.”
Police said the mass murder took place before 4 a.m. on Sunday. Police were called to report a boy with gunshot wounds on the street. When that victim was rushed to hospital in critical condition, investigators went to a nearby house where they found the others shot to death.
The victims included a pregnant woman who was rushed to hospital, but she and her unborn child could not be rescued, police said during an afternoon briefing.
No motive was given for the worst shooting in town in more than a decade, but authorities said it was not an arbitrary act.
“I want to be very clear about something: what happened this morning was not an act of simple gun violence,” said the mayor. “What happened this morning was a mass murder, a choice of an individual or individuals to – and I do not use these words lightly – to bring terror to our community.”
While officials pleaded for tips that would lead them to the perpetrator, Hogsett said police would track down whether the weapons involved in the incident were illegal and hold the sellers accountable and also arrest anyone harboring the shooter or gunmen.
“We will not stop until someone who is complicit in this act of violence is held fully responsible,” he said.