LAST UPDATE | 16 Apr 2021
AUTHORITIES HAVE IDENTIFIED the suspect in a shooting at an Indianapolis FedEx facility as 19-year-old Brandon Scott Hole of Indiana.
At a news conference, Deputy Police Chief Craig McCartt also confirmed Hole was a former employee of the company and last worked for FedEx in 2020. McCartt said he did not know why Hole left the job or if he had ties to the workers in the facility.
He said police seized a gun last year from the suspected shooter, and that a motive for the shooting has not yet been uncovered.
McCartt added that authorities are still identifying the victims and that not all of the victims’ families have been notified.
Investigation
The investigators are searching a home in Indianapolis associated with Hole and have seized evidence, including desktop computers and other electronic media, the officials said.
The officials could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.
The gunman killed eight people and wounded several others before apparently killing himself at the FedEx facility near the Indianapolis airport, police said.
Five people were taken to hospital after last night’s shooting, according to police.
One of them had critical injuries, police spokesperson Genae Cook said. Another two people were treated and released at the scene.
FedEx said people who worked for the company were among the dead.
A witness said that he was working inside the building when he heard several gunshots in rapid succession.
“I see a man come out with a rifle in his hand and he starts firing and he starts yellin’ stuff that I could not understand,” Levi Miller told WTHR-TV.
“What I ended up doing was ducking down to make sure he did not see me because I thought he would see me and he would shoot me.”
Police have not officially identified the gunman or said whether he was an employee at the facility.
They said, “preliminary information from evidence at the scene” indicated that he died by suicide.
“We’re still trying to ascertain the exact reason and cause for this incident,” Cook said.
Mass shootings in the US
Flags are being flown half-staff at the White House and all other public buildings as a mark of respect for the victims of the “senseless acts of violence”, the latest in a recent string of mass shootings across the US.
Last month, eight people were fatally shot at massage businesses across the Atlanta area, and 10 died in gunfire at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.
It was at least the third mass shooting this year in Indianapolis alone.
Five people, including a pregnant woman, were shot and killed in January, and a man was accused of killing three adults and a child before abducting his daughter during an argument at a home in March.
The victims
Family members gathered at a nearby hotel to await word on loved ones and some employees were taken there by bus for tearful reunions.
But other relatives said they still had no information about their loved ones hours later.
Most employees are not allowed to carry mobile phones inside the FedEx building, making contact with them difficult.
“When you see notifications on your phone, but you’re not getting a text back from your kid and you’re not getting information and you still don’t know where they are … what are you supposed to do?” said Mindy Carson, holding back tears.
Her daughter, Jessica, works in the facility and she had not heard from her.
FedEx released a statement saying it is cooperating with authorities.
“We are deeply shocked and saddened by the loss of our team members following the tragic shooting at our FedEx Ground facility in Indianapolis,” the statement said.
“Our most heartfelt sympathies are with all those affected by this senseless act of violence.”
A man told WTTV that his niece was sitting in the driver’s seat of her car when the gunfire erupted, and she was wounded.
“She got shot on her left arm,” said Parminder Singh. “She’s fine, she’s in the hospital now.”
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