Indianapolis FedEx Shooting: What We Know So Far -- Update
April 16 2021 - 3:34PM
Dow Jones News
By Anthony DeRosa
What happened in Indianapolis?
Around 11 p.m. Thursday, a gunman arrived at the parking lot of
a FedEx Corp. facility in Indianapolis, got out of his car, and
started shooting at people, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Deputy
Chief Craig McCartt said at a news conference Friday morning. The
man then entered the building, shooting at more people before
killing himself.
When police arrived, they found "an active and chaotic crime
scene," Deputy Chief McCartt said. The incident lasted only a few
minutes, and by the time police went inside the facility, "the
situation was over," he said.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief Randal Taylor said
officers rushed to the incident and "when they arrived on the scene
they found something that really no one should see."
What do we know about those injured in the shooting?
Eight people were killed. Five people were taken to local
hospitals, police said. Two others were treated at the scene and
released. Of the deceased, four were found in the parking lot and
four inside the facility.
Fred Smith, the founder and chief executive of FedEx, confirmed
Friday that the eight killed were workers at the Indianapolis
Ground facility. In a message to employees, he said it would take
some time to understand what happened in "this senseless act of
violence."
Mr. Smith said the company was cooperating with law enforcement
and providing counselors to local employees and their families.
Deputy Chief McCartt said the Marion County coroner's office
would be working to identify the victims, a process he hoped would
be completed in the next 24 hours.
What do we know about the gunman?
Law-enforcement officials have identified the shooting suspect
as a 19-year-old named Brandon Hole. Mr. Hole is a former employee
of the company, a person familiar with the matter said. Earlier,
police and local FBI agents were searching the home of a potential
suspect, they said.
What do we know about the facility where the shooting
occurred?
The FedEx facility, more than 300,000 square feet, near the
Indianapolis airport is part of the company's FedEx Ground
operations, which mostly handles its e-commerce parcels. The
company also operates a major FedEx Express hub at the airport.
In certain areas of FedEx Ground facilities, only authorized
workers are allowed to have access to their phones, a company
spokeswoman said Friday. The policy aims to "minimize potential
distractions around package sortation equipment and dock
operations."
Deputy Chief McCartt said the cellphone policy didn't appear to
have delayed reporting the shooting to police. Many employees
didn't have their cellphones after the shooting, which delayed
their ability to reach family members, he said.
"That was certainly frustrating for those employees as well as
their families," he said.
Have there been shootings at shipping facilities before?
There have been several smaller shootings at FedEx and UPS
facilities in recent years. In June 2017, a UPS warehouse worker
opened fire during a morning meeting of delivery drivers in San
Francisco, killing three before turning the gun on himself.
Have there been other shootings lately in the U.S.?
In recent weeks, there has been a rash of mass shootings in the
U.S., after comparatively few over the course of the Covid-19
pandemic. On March 16, a gunman killed eight people at spas and
massage parlors in the Atlanta area. Days later, another gunman
killed 10 at a supermarket in Boulder, Colo.
Mass shootings tend to come in clusters, and when one occurs
another is likely to follow, according to research by the Violence
Project, a mass-shooting database founded by criminology professors
Jillian Peterson and James Densley.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 16, 2021 15:19 ET (19:19 GMT)
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