At least eight people were killed and several injured in a shooting late
Thursday, April 15, in Indianapolis in the central United States.
Police spokeswoman Genae Cook told reporters early Friday that a
shooting occurred at a FedEx letter.
The package shipping group center near the city's international airport
and that the suspected shooter took his own life.
Eight people were found dead and five others were hospitalized.
1. Statements about Shooting
At about 11 p.m. local time Thursday, the suspected shooter got out of
his car with an assault rifle.
It started shooting randomly, first in the parking lot" and then in
the warehouse.
"Before killing himself," Craig McCartt, an Indianapolis
police official, said at a press briefing.
The federal police, the FBI, said it was "premature to
speculate" on the motives of the shooter and FedEx has not yet indicated
whether.
He was an employee of the group.
The shooting took place in a letter and package transportation center.
The shooting took place at a FedEx letter and package transportation center near the international airport in this central city.
A man working at the FedEx facility, where more than 4,000 people work, according
to U.S. media reports, told local television station WISH-TV.
It told also that he saw one person firing an automatic weapon and heard
more than 10 shots.
"I saw a man with some kind of machine gun, an automatic weapon,
and he was shooting in midair," Jeremiah Miller said.
I ducked immediately and I was scared."
Another witness to the scene, Timothy Boillat, who is employed at the
site, told WISH-TV.
He saw about 30 police cars arrive at the scene as the shooting was
ending.
"After I heard the gunfire, I saw a body on the ground," he
said. Luckily, I was far enough away, he (the shooter) didn't see me."
Police spokeswoman Genae Cook said Friday, April 16, that eight people
were killed, not including the shooter, reports reporter Sarah Nelson.
Who works for the Indy Star regional newspaper.
2. The recurring scourge of shootings
FedEx confirmed in a statement a shooting at its site and stressed that
the group was cooperating with authorities.
"We are aware of the tragic shooting at our ground facility near
the Indianapolis airport," the FedEx statement said.
"Safety is our top priority and our thoughts are with all those
affected."
The site employs more than 4,000 people, according to media reports.
The security perimeter set up by police around the location of the shooting, which comes after several similar incidents in recent weeks.
Gun violence "bruises" the soul of the American nation.;
Joe Biden lamented in a statement, ordering flags in federal public
buildings to be flown at half-staff.
"This morning, it is grief that is upon us," lamented the
mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana's capital, Joe Hogsett.
"Grief for the families of those killed grief for the employees who
lost their colleagues, and grief for the many Americans.
Who struggle to understand how
tragedies like this continue to happen, again and again."
Shootings are a recurring scourge in the United States.
On April 9, one person was killed and several others injured in a Texas
furniture store.
Hours after President Joe Biden
unveiled a plan to combat gun violence.
On March 31, four people, including
a nine-year-old child were killed near Los Angeles in a shooting.
That followed two other shootings in March. that killed 18 people, including
six Asian women, in massage parlors in Atlanta, Georgia.
3. 1,000 gun deaths so far this year
These events have reignited the debate over the proliferation of guns in
the United States.
Which kill nearly 40,000 people in the country each year – more than
half of them suicides.
As a result, guns killed more than 43,000 people, including suicides, in
the United States in 2020, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
The organization counted 611 "mass shootings" - those with at
least four victims - in 2020, up from 417 the year before.
Since Jan. 1, more than 11,000 people have already been killed by a gun.
But many Americans remain much attached to their guns and have even
rushed to buy more since the pandemic began.
Even more, during the major anti-racist protests of spring 2020 and the
election tensions of the fall.
4. Soon stricter controls
"Gun violence in this country is an epidemic, an international
disgrace," said Joe Biden on April 8 when he unveiled targeted measures.
These measures were to combat the proliferation of firearms in the
United States.
They were limited in scope because of the difficulty of getting Congress
to adopt bolder measures, in view of very narrow Democratic majority in
Congress.
Republicans were quick to denounce the president's plans.
One of these measures is aimed at combating "ghost guns",
which are homemade, sometimes with a 3D printer, and lack serial numbers.
The rules for certain handguns equipped with a stabilizing accessory
attached to the shooter's arm will also be tightened.
