The Four Percent
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At least eight people died in a shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis late Thursday, and the gunman was believed to have taken his own life, the police said.
Here’s what we know about the shooting so far.
What happened?
The police said officers arrived at the facility just after 11 p.m., responding to a report that shots had been fired.
Deputy Chief Craig McCartt of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said in a news conference on Friday that officers “found a very chaotic and active crime scene,” including several people injured and several people dead. Among them was the gunman, with “an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound,” he said.
Chief McCartt said that, based on preliminary interviews, the gunman “pretty quickly started some random shooting outside the facility” after getting out of his car. He said the shooting took place both in the lot and in the building, and was over in “just a couple of minutes.”
Officer Genae Cook said at least five other people had been hospitalized with injuries, including one in critical condition. Two others were treated at the scene and released.
The victims are identified.
At least four of the eight victims were part of the local Sikh community, many of them drawn to the Indianapolis area to take jobs at places like the FedEx facility.
“We are sad to confirm that at least four of those killed in Thursday night’s attacks are members of the Indianapolis Sikh community,” the Sikh Coalition, a national nonprofit organization, said on Twitter.
Although the motive of the gunman was unknown, local leaders said his actions generated fear similar to what many Sikhs felt after the Sept. 11 attacks, when they were targeted and confused for Muslims, and after a 2012 rampage by a white supremacist, who killed six people at a gurdwara, or Sikh temple, in Oak Creek, Wis.
The suspect is identified.
Officials identified the suspect as Brandon Scott Hole, 19. FedEx confirmed that the gunman was a former employee.
Mr. Hole’s mother had warned law enforcement officials last year that he might try to commit “suicide by cop,” officials said.
Mr. Hole, who the authorities said was armed with a rifle during the attack, had been interviewed by federal agents in April of last year, said Paul Keenan, special agent in charge of the F.B.I. field office in Indianapolis.
After the teenager’s mother reported him to law enforcement in March 2020, the authorities put him on an “immediate detention mental health temporary hold,” Mr. Keenan said, and he was not charged with a crime.
Family members gathered for news.
Officer Cook asked people who had been unable to make contact with family members who work at FedEx to gather at a Holiday Inn Express about a mile from the warehouse.
Patricia Holman, the senior chaplain for the police, was one of six chaplains who arrived at the hotel to provide counseling and comfort.
“This isn’t the first time six of us have responded to an event,” she said. “But this is the first time six of us have been necessary.”
“It never gets easier,” she added.
Sarah Bahr reported from Indianapolis, and Mike Ives from Hong Kong. Derrick Bryson Taylor contributed reporting from London.
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