Five people, including a pregnant woman, were found dead inside a home in Indianapolis in an apparent targeted attack, said the city’s police chief, describing the deaths as “mass murder” and a “different type of evil”.
The fatal shootings were discovered on Sunday by police who found a young man with gunshot wounds before being called around 4 am to investigate reports of a person shot on the northeastern side of the city, said Sergeant Shane Foley, of the Metropolitan Police of Indianapolis.
The call took them to a nearby house, where they found five adults killed by apparent gunshot wounds.
No suspects were in custody until Sunday night.
Kezzie Childs, 42, Raymond Childs, 42, Elijah Childs, 18, Rita Childs, 13, and Kiara Hawkins, 19, and Hawkins’ unborn child were pronounced dead after being found at home, Foley said.
Hawkins was first taken to a hospital in the area, but both she and the fetus died despite efforts to save lives, Foley said.
He said the young man initially found with gunshot wounds must survive and police believe he was injured in the shooting that killed the other five, along with his unborn child.
Police chief Randal Taylor said the police believe the deadly shootings were not random, but a targeted attack.
He said the shooting happened days after police department officials announced their latest efforts to combat violent drug-related crimes and “violence driven by poverty or despair”.
“But what we saw this morning was a different kind of evil. What happened this morning, based on the evidence that has been gathered so far, was a mass murder, ”Taylor said at a news conference. “More than that, we believe it was not random.”
Taylor said it was the biggest mass shooting in the city in more than a decade and asked the public to contact the police and pass on any information they may have about the murders.
Mayor Joe Hogsett called the shootings “mass murder” and said that an individual or individuals brought “terror to our community”. He said he contacted officials at the FBI field office in Indianapolis, the local US law firm and other public security agencies to assist with the investigation of the shooting.
“I want those responsible to know that all the power of the local, state and federal police is coming at them as I speak,” he said.