Authorities in Indiana have arrested a teenager allegedly connected to a mass-casualty shooting incident over the weekend that left six dead, including a pregnant woman’s unborn child, while also wounding a juvenile male.
“Yesterday, we promised swift justice for this heinous act. Today, we delivered on that promise,” Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Randal Taylor said in a press release.
The department announced the teen’s arrest on Monday, not providing additional details about the suspect, who authorities believe acted alone.
“The suspect’s name and photo are not being released at this time since the suspect is a juvenile,” officials wrote in the release. “Detectives do not believe any additional persons were involved.”
IMPD officers learned of the victims after responding to an emergency call at about 4 a.m. on Sunday about a juvenile male who had been shot in the city’s northeast side. Police located the teenager with apparent gunshot wounds, IMPD Sgt. Shane Foley told reporters at a press briefing on Sunday.
Foley said that about 40 minutes later, the investigating officers found five people dead in a nearby home, also from apparent gunshot wounds.
The victims have been identified by homicide detectives as 42-year-old Kezzie Childs, 42-year-old Raymond Childs, 18-year-old Elijah Childs, 13-year-old Rita Childs, 19-year-old Kiara Hawkins, and “Baby Boy Hawkins,” officials wrote in the release. The unborn child and her mother, Hawkins, were taken to a local hospital before both succumbed to their injuries.
IMPD spokeswoman Aliya Wishner said the juvenile arrested in the killings is not the same juvenile male who was found wounded Sunday before the victims’ bodies were discovered. The seventh victim was hospitalized Sunday and is expected to survive.
Chief Taylor said the shooting is the largest mass-casualty shooting in the city in more than a decade. He thanked everyone involved in the investigation for their hard work to bring justice for the victims and their families.
“While removing the alleged perpetrator of yesterday’s mass murder from our neighborhoods does not bring back the lives senselessly lost, hopefully, it will bring us one step closer to healing as a community,” Taylor said.
“I am grateful to all of the IMPD officers and criminal justice partners who have worked tirelessly for the last 30 plus hours to bring justice for these victims, their friends and families, and our entire community. I ask community members to join me in praying for the continued recovery of the young man whose life has been forever changed.”
The mayor of Indianapolis also addressed the shooting during Sunday’s briefing, calling the shooting a “mass murder” and a “crisis of morality,” while pledging the person involved will be held fully accountable.
“This is a crisis of morality, a crisis of conscience,” Mayor Joe Hogsett said. “What happened this morning was not an act of simple gun violence. … What happened this morning was a mass murder,” he continued.
Hogsett has since contacted the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana and the Indianapolis Field Office of the FBI for assistance in the investigation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.