Police say Indianapolis FedEx gunman and eight people he shot dead still haven’t been identified after desperate families waited overnight in a hotel for news of their relatives
- The rampage started at the FedEx operations center in Indianapolis just after 11pm on Thursday when the gunman immediately opened fire with a rifle after getting out of his car in the parking lot
- He kept shooting as he made his way into the facility before killing himself as police arrived on the scene
- Four people were killed outside the building and another four inside. Several people were also wounded, including five taken to the hospital
- During a press conference on Friday morning, deputy police chief Craig McCartt revealed that the eight victims have still not yet been identified, which means their relatives are still awaiting news
- Images emerged overnight of family members gathering at a nearby hotel to await word on loved ones
- Officials with the coroner’s office said they have not been able to get to the scene to identify the victims because evidence is still being collected
- McCartt also said they were still working to confirm the gunman’s identity – even though the FBI were in the process of searching a home possibly linked to the shooter
- He would not speculate if the gunman was an employee and refused to say if witnesses had recognized him
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Police say the gunman and the eight victims he killed in the Indianapolis FedEx shooting massacre still have not been identified as desperate families waited in a nearby hotel for news of their relatives some 12 hours after the rampage unfolded.
The rampage started at the FedEx operations center in Indianapolis just after 11pm on Thursday when the gunman immediately opened fire with a rifle after getting out of his car in the parking lot. He kept shooting as he made his way into the facility before killing himself as police arrived on the scene.
Four people were killed outside the building and another four inside. Several people were also wounded, including five who were taken to the hospital.
During a press conference on Friday morning, deputy police chief Craig McCartt revealed that the eight victims have still not yet been identified.
Harrowing images emerged overnight of family members gathering at a nearby hotel to await word or be reunited with loved ones.
Officials with the coroner’s office said they have not been able to get to the scene to identify the victims because evidence is still being collected. They said in Indiana that a positive ID is confirmed by identification by a family member, dental, DNA and fingerprints.
McCartt said they were also still working to confirm the gunman’s identity but they ‘have an idea’ of who he might be. The FBI are in the process of searching a home possibly linked to the shooter, authorities said.
The rampage started at the FedEx operations center in Indianapolis just after 11pm on Thursday when the gunman immediately opened fire with a rifle after getting out of his car in the parking lot
Police work the crime scene on Friday morning after a gunman opened fire on a FedEx facility in Indianapolis overnight in an attack that left nine dead, including the gunman
Police and crime scene investigators continued to process the crime scene on Friday morning. Police are still working to identify the gunman and victims. It is not yet clear if the gunman was an employee at the facility and a motive for the attack is not yet known
McCartt would not speculate if the gunman was an employee and refused to say if witnesses had recognized him.
Describing the rampage, McCartt said the carnage took just a couple of minutes.
‘It did not last very long,’ he said, adding that police do not yet know the motive for the shooting.
In the early hours of Friday morning, frantic relatives of warehouse workers rushed to the scene outside the facility and were later pictured comforting each other in a nearby hotel as they awaited news on the victims.
Police said the delay in reuniting relatives was due to the fact that some employees are not allowed to carry their cellphones on them while on the warehouse floor.
That policy meant many employees were forced to flee without being able to retrieve their phones, which are often locked away elsewhere.
FedEx is understood to be reevaluating this policy in the wake of the shooting.
Police said they do not believe the cellphone policy meant they delayed in receiving the initial 911 calls reporting the incident.
Family and friends wait for word of their loved ones who were at the FedEx Ground facility during a shooting in Indianapolis, Thursday night, April 15, 2021. Some said employees aren’t allowed to have their phones with them while working shifts at the facility, making it difficult to contact them, WTHR-TV reported
Pictured: People hug after learning that their loved one is safe after a shooting inside a FedEx building Friday, April 16, 2021
