2 hurt, 1 critically, in near west side shooting

INDIANAPOLIS — Two people were injured, one critically, after an early morning shooting on the near west side.

According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, officers responded to a shots fired call at 54 North Addison Street around 3 a.m.

When officers arrived, they located a woman with a gunshot wound. Shortly after that, they found a man who’d also been shot around the corner of the residence.

Both victims were taken to Eskenazi Hospital. The man was in critical condition, police said. IMPD didn’t disclose the extent of the woman’s injuries, saying only that she was in stable condition.

Details surrounding the shooting were limited because of a language barrier.

“It’s very preliminary right now, but what little we’ve been able to establish because of the language barrier is that it was some of disturbance between neighbors, we’re not quite sure what, and we have several people detained at this time,” said Capt. Don Weilhammer with IMPD.

According to a person who called police, the suspect or suspects ran into a neighboring home at 66 N Addison. Officers secured the residence and were waiting on a search warrant. They did find shell casings on the front porch.

Police detained several people but didn’t say if they were suspects. Officers were not able to immediately get a description of the shooter or shooters from the victims. Detectives were sent to the hospital to talk to them through an interpreter.

It’s another example of people using guns to settle a disagreement.

“Every day, people have disagreements, but they’re not settled by pulling out a firearm and shooting at other people. Disagreements like this, if you can’t talk it out, try to get a mediator, or if you don’t have a mediator available, turn and walk away,” Weilhammer said.

“In resorting to violence, you have no idea where those rounds are going. Obviously, there are houses around here, we don’t want any innocent people—we don’t want anybody shot, for that matter—but what’s even worse is when somebody that’s not involved, most likely a young child, gets hurt,” he said.

IMPD said there was no further threat to the neighborhood. Officers believe they have everyone involved accounted for.

Police were searching for surveillance video from nearby homes and asked anyone with information to contact IMPD or call Crime Stoppers at (317) 262-TIPS (8477).