INDIANAPOLIS — An overnight shooting on Indianapolis’ northeast side that authorities are calling the city’s “largest mass casualty shooting in more than a decade” left six people dead, including a pregnant woman and her unborn child.
Both Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Randall Taylor referred to the incident as a “mass murder” during a Sunday afternoon news conference, WXIN reported.
“What happened this morning was a mass murder, a choice of an individual or individuals to bring, and I do not use these words lightly, terror to our community,” Hogsett said, according to WTHR. “Today, Indianapolis has lost much, including an unborn life. Justice will be done.”
UPDATE: The mayor and police chief hold a press conference after 6 people killed, including a pregnant woman and an unborn child. A juvenile was also shot but expected to survive.
— Lauren Kostiuk (@laurenkostiuk_) January 24, 2021
Officials are calling this a targeted mass shooting at one home @WTHRcom pic.twitter.com/aIDq2hZevv
Officers with the IMPD first responded at around 3:45 a.m. to a reported shooting and discovered a juvenile victim, who was transported to an area hospital in critical condition but expected to survive. By 4:41 a.m., however, officers had discovered the other victims in a nearby home, WXIN reported.
Taylor said during the news conference that he is “heartbroken for the lives that were taken too soon, for the young life that has forever been changed, and for the life that never got a chance to start,” WTHR reported.
Investigators stated it appears the family was targeted, and they do not believe the public is in danger, WXIN reported.
According to WTHR, authorities identified the victims Sunday night as Kezzie Childs, 42; Raymond Childs Jr., 42; Elijah Childs, 18; Rita Childs, 13; Kiara Hawkins, 19; and baby boy Hawkins (fetus), child of Kiara Hawkins.
“I want those responsible to know that the full might of local, state and federal law enforcement are coming for them as I speak. Coming for them today. Coming for them tonight. Coming for them tomorrow and the day after that. Coming for them as long as it takes to find them,” Hogsett said during the news conference.
Mayor Hogsett says he's talked to the US Attorney for Southern Indiana and other Federal agencies.
— Jennie Runevitch (@JennieWTHR) January 24, 2021
All resources are being used to track down those responsible, following the mass shooting that left six people dead. @wthrcom
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