At least 7 youths wounded in downtown Indianapolis shooting Saturday

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is investigating a mass shooting downtown Saturday evening that involved at least seven young people, ages 12-17.

IMPD Downtown District officers were on patrol when they heard several gunshots just after 11 p.m. on the first block of West Maryland Street near the corner of South Illinois Street, according to a press release.

Officers found that six juveniles on the scene sustained injuries consistent with gunshot wounds. All of them were taken to local hospitals.

A seventh victim has since walked into Community South Hospital with injuries consistent with gunshot wounds from the incident, according to IMPD Southeast District officers.

In a media releae, Mayor Joe Hogsett said he is "heartbroken for the young people whose lives have been impacted by what occurred last night."

"Let me be clear: a 12-year-old child has no business being out late at night anywhere without parental or adult supervision," the statement continued. "As important, there is no reason why a young person at any age should be in possession of a gun."

"But no level of law enforcement or community programming can keep guns out of the hands of every young person in our city. Solutions will require all of us to address the ease with which our youth access and turn to firearms to solve their conflicts."

Saturday's shooting comes after two consecutive weekends when multiple people were shot at a single location.

On March 16 one person was killed and five others injured in a shooting inside a Broad Ripple bar.

Last Sunday, one person was killed and five others injured, including an IMPD officer, in the parking of a bar in the 9000 block of East Washington Street.

Indianapolis has struggled to reduce gun violence rates over the past few years. The number of homicides in Indianapolis decreased to 216 in 2023 —  the lowest since 2019, when 153 criminal homicides were investigated.

Hogsett said the city will hire a Chief Violence Prevention Officer to focus "exclusively on youth and working to prosecute those who provide firearms to minors.”

Detectives have not made an arrest in Saturday’s shootings, and the investigation is still ongoing. Anyone with information about this incident should contact Detective Albert Teaters at the IMPD Homicide Office at 317-327-3475 or email him at Albert.Teaters@indy.gov.

Contact WFYI’s health reporter Elizabeth Gabriel at egabriel@wfyi.org.