Indianapolis Birthday Party Shooting: Masked Man Leaves 2 Dead, 6 Injured
INDIANAPOLIS (CBS/WISH/AP) A masked man armed with an assault-style rifle fired dozens of shots on a birthday party at a house in an inner-city Indianapolis neighborhood early Tuesday, killing two people and wounding six before fleeing, police said.
CBS affiliate WISH reports that around 30 people were attending the birthday barbecue when the shooting occurred shortly after midnight.
Indianapolis police Lt. Jeff Duhamell said a motive was not immediately known.
A man in his 50s and woman in her 30s were found dead at the scene, their bodies lying in the yard. Six people were taken to the hospital in stable condition, including one partygoer who had been shot in the neck and another who was shot in the back, Duhamell said.
"We're talking at least 25-30 rounds from a high-powered rifle, so although eight people were shot, it could've been a lot worse," he said.
He did not have details of the firearm used in the attack except that it was an assault-style rifle, "an AK or SKS."
Duhamell said the gunman had been wearing a ski mask, and that he fired from the street and then a car before fleeing. It wasn't clear if a getaway driver was also involved.
Quiana Harlin, 28, whose female cousin was killed in the shooting, said she had been at the party with her 4-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son but left just before the shootings. Harlin said there hadn't been any trouble at the party at her cousin's house and that she heard the gunfire as she drove away.
"It was like Baghdad, it was like machine guns," Harlin said.
Harlin said her cousin was shot in the backyard, while the man was killed in front of the two-story white wooden-framed house. Blood stains splattered the concrete walk to the front door.
According to WISH, police say that around 10 p.m., hours before the shooting, they received complaints about a man walking around the neighborhood with an automatic weapon but police found no one. Duhamell said it wasn't immediately clear if there was a connection with the shooting early Tuesday..
Duhamell said it was possible some shots were fired at the gunman.
"We're still checking with our forensics people and trying to find out exactly what happened," he said. "We do know that multiple rounds were being fired from the roadway toward the house."