Victims rushed to hospitals as shots fired near Circle Center Mall on Saturday night.
Authorities report that seven children between the ages of 12 and 17 were wounded in one of the US’s most recent mass shootings. The incident occurred outside a downtown Indianapolis shopping mall late Saturday night.
Police officers on patrol in the vicinity of Circle Center Mall reported hearing gunfire shortly after 11:30 pm,” stated Tanya Terry, deputy chief of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
Upon arrival, officers discovered “a large group of juveniles” at the scene, six of whom had sustained gunshot wounds and were subsequently transported to nearby hospitals, Terry revealed during a news briefing held at the scene early Sunday morning.
Terry further informed that one of the victims had been upgraded from critical to stable condition, while the others were all listed in stable condition. Gender details of the victims were not immediately available.
Terry also mentioned that a seventh child, also with a gunshot wound, arrived separately at a hospital and was reported to be in stable condition.
Expressing concern over the recurring theme of young people resorting to firearms to resolve conflicts, Terry emphasized, “Once again, we have a situation in which young people are resolving conflict with firearms, and it has to stop. Conflict should not lead to somebody pulling out a gun and trying to resolve it. The consequences are eternal.
Terry added that investigators suspect multiple firearms were involved in the shooting.
As of now, no arrests have been made, and police have not identified any immediate suspects.
The shooting in Indianapolis adds to the alarming statistics of gun violence in the US this year. According to the nonpartisan Gun Violence Archive, it marks one of over 90 mass shootings in the country so far in 2024. The archive defines a mass shooting as an incident where four or more victims are injured or killed.
The ongoing prevalence of mass shootings in the US has sparked renewed calls for stricter gun control measures from certain political circles. However, implemented measures often fall short when compared to those in many other countries with lower rates of violence.