Shooting in Indianapolis: five people including a pregnant woman killed



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Five people and an unborn child were killed early Sunday on the northeast side of Indianapolis, police said. A minor was also in critical condition after being shot, said Metropolitan Indianapolis Police Chief Randal Taylor.

“What happened this morning, based on the evidence gathered so far, was mass murder,” Taylor said. “More than that, we think it was not random.

“There are no right words to say at the moment … our community has to accept the highest number of injured in over a decade.”

The police did not announce a motive. They say more than one shooter may have been involved.

Agents from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) responded to a report of a person shot just before 4 a.m. on Sunday and found a young man injured, the spokesperson for the Indianapolis said. IMPD, Shane Foley.

Officers received information that led them to another residence less than a block away, where they found five people – including a pregnant woman – dead, Foley said.

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“Despite the best rescue efforts by the medical staff, the woman and the unborn child did not survive,” he said. “The young man who was shot should survive his injuries.”

Marion County Deputy Chief Coroner Alfarena McGinty identified the victims as Kezzie Childs, 42; Raymond Childs, 42; Elijah Childs, 18; Rita Childs, 13; Kiara Hawkins, 19; and Hawkins’ unborn baby.

Mayor Joe Hogsett said he had requested help from federal authorities and that investigators will attempt to determine whether the weapons used in the shootings were “illegally possessed”.

The mayor said the city has been working for a decade to “tackle the deadly confluence of guns, drug addiction and poverty that has seen our city’s homicide rate reach historic highs.”

The city recorded 215 criminal homicides in 2020 – the highest number on record in a year, according to an analysis of crime statistics from the Indianapolis Star.

Laura James of CNN contributed to this report.

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