INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An 8-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy were injured after being shot in bouncy houses during a Fourth of July cookout, police say.
The children were taken in critical condition to “a Level 1 trauma center,” said Capt. Mike Leepper of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. Also, a man believed to have been injured in the shooting took himself to a nearby hospital, and his condition was not immediately available.
IMPD and medics were sent about 6:55 p.m. Monday to the intersection of East 38th Street and North Arlington Avenue. The cookout was outside a shopping center called Arlington Village on the west side of Arlington Avenue south of 38th Street.
“At this time, it’s still very early on in the investigation, but we have initial reason to believe that this was an unprovoked attack, that the suspects arrived on the scene and opened fire on a crowd that was having a Fourth of July celebration. They were having a cookout with a bounce house. There were several children that were present and several adults as well,” Leepper said. The suspects “opened fire into the crowd and then fled the scene.”
It was not immediately known who had organized the gathering, although nearby businesses may have been participating in the cookout. Some people at the event stayed after the shooting to talk with investigators from the aggravated assault division, the police captain said.
IMPD did not immediately provide information about the suspects. “We want to make sure that our detectives have time to vet the information that they’ve been given, that it’s accurate, before it’s given out to the general public,” Leepper said.
