(Citizen Free Press) — Five people and an unborn baby died Sunday after an early morning shooting on the northeast side of Indianapolis, police said, an incident the mayor called “a mass murder.”
A minor was also in critical condition after being shot during the incident, which represents the “largest mass shooting with victims in more than a decade” in Indianapolis, according to Metropolitan Police Chief Randal Taylor.
Indianapolis police officers responded to a report of a person being shot just before 4 a.m. Upon arrival, police encountered “a young man with apparent gunshot wounds,” police spokesman Shane Foley told reporters.
Agents later received information that led them to another residence less than a block away, where they found five people, including a pregnant woman, dead with “apparent gunshot wounds,” Foley said.
“Despite the best efforts of the medical staff to save lives, both the woman and the fetus did not survive,” he added. “The young male who was shot is expected to survive his injuries.”
Marion County Deputy Coroner Alfarena McGinty identified the victims as Kezzie Childs, 42; Raymond Childs, 42; Elijah Childs, 18; Rita Childs, 13 years old; Kiara Hawkins, 19; and Hawkins baby.
While the police investigation is in its early stages, Foley said the multiple shooting “does not appear to be a random act.”
As of Sunday afternoon, police said they had no identified suspects related to the shooting, but that they believed more than one shooter may have been involved.
“This morning, one or more people perpetrated an act of evil in our city,” Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett told reporters. “While we are still learning more about the circumstances that led to this incident, I want to be very clear about one thing: what happened this morning was not a simple act of gun violence … What happened this morning was mass murder.”
Hogsett said he is in contact with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana and the FBI Field Office in Indianapolis.
The federal police are coming for them, as I speak. It’s coming for them today, it’s coming for them tonight, it’s coming for them tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. As long as it takes to find them comes for them, ”added Hogsett.