INDIANAPOLIS — One woman is dead and 5 others are wounded after a shooting at a Waffle House on Indy’s west side. Police say a fight between two groups led to the shooting.
According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, officers were called to the Waffle House on south Lynhurst for a report of a person shot just after 12:30 a.m.
When police arrived, they found at least five people with injuries consistent with gunshot wounds. One of the victims, an adult woman, died from her injuries at an area hospital. The other victims – three men and a woman – were transported to an area hospital in stable condition, according to police.
Police say a sixth victim, an adult man, arrived at IU Health Methodist Hospital shortly after the shooting and remains in critical condition. That individual either drove himself to the hospital or had someone else drive him, IMPD said.
Police say two groups of people got into an altercation inside and outside the restaurant before the shooting took place.
Although police believe that disturbance escalated to gunfire, it’s not clear if any of the wounded victims were also responsible for firing shots.
“One thing I would stress and we’ve stressed quote often, but it still has not changed. If you have a conflict, use conflict resolution,” said IMPD captain Don Weilhammer.
IMPD insisted overnight there is no reason a simple fight should ever end in a shooting.
“If you can’t work things out without resorting to violence, then turn and walk away. Somebody’s life was unfortunately lost tonight over what the conflict was between these two groups and it’s unnecessary,” said Weilhammer.
At least one gun was found on scene, a second was recovered at the hospital.
Although the woman who died has not been identified by the coroner’s office, numerous friends and family say she lived in Gary where she was well known and loved.
Investigators noted there were a number of people in the area when the shooting occurred.
“We have had numerous people that stuck around and are acting as witnesses. But we also believe there were several that were either at the Speedway gas station … or at the Waffle House that left the scene prior to our arrival,” Weilhammer said. “We’re hoping they’ll be willing to come forward and give us information.”
Weilhammer said any information, no matter how insignificant witnesses think it may be, could prove helpful to the investigation. He also voiced frustration that too many people are settling disagreements with violence.
The Waffle House homicide marked the 30th total homicide over the first 50 days on the year in Indianapolis. At that pace, the city would end up with more than 200 total homicides for the fifth year in a row.
“We seem to have so many dangerous people in the streets of this city who have no moral compass,” said Rev. Charles Harrison. “They have no regard for human life and they’re settling their conflicts with violence.”
Harrison said he believes the best way to reduce the violent crime problem in the city is to do a better job holding repeat violent offenders accountable.
“I think we still need to focus on the most violent people in our city,” said Harrison.
Waffle House released a statement about the shooting:
“We are cooperating fully with the ongoing law enforcement investigation into this incident.
Njeri Boss, VP of public relations for Waffle House
Because the investigation remains active, we are referring all questions to the local law
enforcement agency handling the matter.”
Anyone with information about this incident should call Detective Douglas Morning at the IMPD Homicide Office at 317.327.3475 or e-mail the detective at Douglas.Morning@indy.gov. Media inquiries should be sent to IMPD.PublicAffairs@indy.gov
Alternatively, they can call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317.262.8477 or (TIPS)