Staff Reporter: 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.
“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“ Today, Indianapolis has lost much, including an unborn life. Justice will be done.”
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,
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,”
Investigators stated it appears the family was targeted, and they do not believe the public is in danger.
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.
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