INDIANAPOLIS — At least eight people were killed in a shooting late Thursday at a FedEx facility near Indianapolis International Airport.
Police responded to the FedEx Ground facility on the city’s southwest side just after 11 p.m. Thursday for a report of shots fired at a business. There was an “active shooter” situation when officers arrived, said Genae Cook, spokesman for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
Eight people were killed in and around the facility, she said. An unknown number of others went to hospitals with injuries. The suspected shooter is also dead. Cook said police believe the shooter took his own life.
“This is a tragedy,” Cook said through tears early Friday during a news conference.
Here’s what we know Friday:
What happened during the shooting?
Indianapolis Deputy Police Chief Craig McCartt told CNN on Friday morning the shooting was “very short.”
Levi Miller, who works at the FedEx facility, told the “TODAY” show he was eating with co-workers when they heard several gunshots.
“I assumed it was a muzzle problem with a car,” he said. Miller was outside the building and then heard more than a dozen more shots fired rapidly. He stood up and saw a “hooded figure.”
“The man did have an (assault rifle) in his hand, and he started shouting and then he started firing at random directions,” Miller told “TODAY.”
Miller said he thought the gunman saw him so he ducked for cover. He added that his friends at work told him another man not initially involved pulled out a gun from his truck to “try and engage the shooter.”
Timothy Bouillat, who also works at the facility, told the Washington Post a similar account of how the shooting unfolded and seeing someone who confronted the gunman being shot.
“I’m trying to process what happened and not lose composure,” Bouillat told the Post. “It could have been me. I could have been the one on the floor, not being able to see my twin boys again.”
Who are the FedEx victims?
Eight people are dead and multiple people were injured and were hospitalized. At least one person remained in critical condition at 3 a.m. Friday. Other injured people took themselves to hospitals in the area, Cook said.
No law enforcement officers were among the wounded, Cook said.
Police established a family unification center at the Holiday Inn a mile from the warehouse, for those that had not heard from loved ones. The New York Times reported FedEx has a policy that employees must give up their phones before beginning work on the floor.
Several hours after the shooting, family members sat in the hotel lobby waiting to hear if their loved ones who worked at the ground facility were OK. Some had pajamas on. One man had a sleeping child covered in a blanket on his shoulder. They wore masks to protect themselves from COVID-19.
The scene inside the Holiday Inn’s ballroom was nothing short of “chaos,” other family members said.
“I’m just worried about my father,” Ashlee Floyd said. Her father has worked at the FedEx facility near the airport for two decades. He usually calls his wife at 11:25 p.m., but didn’t call on Thursday, she said. “I don’t know if he’s OK. I don’t know if he’s injured. I don’t know if he’s gone. I’m just scared right now.”
Who is the suspect?
Authorities have not identified the gunman, who was found dead in what is believed to be a suicide nearby. It is unknown if the shooter was a FedEx employee or what his motive was.
What to know about Indianapolis and the FedEx facility
The FedEx Indianapolis hub, which employs more than 4,500 team members, is the second-largest hub in the company’s global network, a representative told the IndyStar, part of the USA TODAY Network, in March.
Indianapolis, the capital of Indiana, is about three hours (about 180 miles) southwest of Chicago and less than two hours (about 110 miles) west of Cincinnati.
What FedEx is saying
FedEx issued a statement after the incident on Twitter, saying it is cooperating with authorities and working to get more information.
“We are deeply shocked and saddened by the loss of our team members following the tragic shooting at our FedEx Ground facility in Indianapolis,” FedEx wrote in another statement released shortly after 4 a.m. “Our most heartfelt sympathies are with all those affected by this senseless act of violence. The safety of our team members is our top priority, and we are fully cooperating with investigating authorities.”
