INDIANAPOLIS — With the quadruple homicide of four people between the ages of 19 and 21 late Wednesday on the northeast side, 2020 is off to a violent start in Indianapolis.
The latest incident happened just before 10:30 p.m. Wednesday at an apartment in the 4100 block of Shady Oak Drive. A neighbor called police after noticing a back patio door was shattered and seeing someone fleeing from the residence. When officers arrived, they found three men and one woman dead inside.
"I share the frustrations and anger of so many this morning, but I remain confident that our path toward peace will require open hearts, not clenched fists," Mayor Joe Hogsett said at a press conference Thursday morning. "Let us resolve that these mindless acts are unconscionable but not unstoppable, and come together as one city to pursue the changes in hearts, minds, and policies that will make our community safer for all."
Through Wednesday, the city has seen 24 homicides. Through the same period last year, the city had seen 16 homicides, including a 2014 incident that investigators officially ruled a homicide in February 2019.
In 2020, victims have ranged in age from 15 to 76. Last year, the victims ranged in age from 19 to 42.
All but two of this year's homicides have involved guns. One is listed as unknown, the other was ruled blunt force. In 2019, all but two involved guns, the other two homicides were stabbings.
Reducing violence has been a key topic and focal point for city leaders.
In his state of the city address last May, Hogsett highlighted a reduction in violence the city was experiencing.
"I am glad to report that in the first three months of this year we have experienced a 10 percent decrease in our most violence crimes, an 11percent decrease in aggravated assaults and a 22 percent decrease in the number of homicides in Indianapolis," Hogsett said. "Now those figures do not speak for every headline, every neighborhood or every block but I will say this, after a return to beat policing, a focus on treatment rather than incarceration for mental health and addiction issues, after the appointment of a director of community violence reduction and now four peacemakers, after a host of violence reduction grants to community groups throughout our city after all of this and more the rate of crime in Indianapolis is on decline."
