At least 8 dead, more injured in shooting at Indianapolis FedEx facility, authorities say
Alexandria Burris and Elinor Aspegren,
INDIANAPOLIS — At least eight people were shot and killed at a FedEx facility near Indianapolis International Airport late Thursday, authorities said.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers responded to a reported shooting Thursday, according to department spokesperson Genae Cook. When they arrived, they found an "active shooter incident," Cook told reporters during a news conference early Friday.
"This is a tragedy, but we will come through it with flying colors," Cook said through tears.
Cook said that the gunman had died and the public is not believed to be in immediate danger.
Cook said it was too early to tell whether the shooter was an employee at the facility.“We’re still trying to ascertain the exact reason and cause for this incident,” she said.
At least four people were transported to local hospitals, including one person with critical injuries with "injuries consistent with gunshot wounds," Cook said. Two others were treated at the scene.
No law enforcement officers were injured, according to Cook. Other injured people took themselves to hospitals in the area, she added.
The FedEx Indianapolis hub, which employs more than 4,500 team members, is the second-largest hub in the company's global network, a representative told the IndyStar, part of the USA TODAY Network, in March.
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Police established a family unification center at the Holiday Inn a mile from the warehouse, for those that had not heard from loved ones. The New York Times reported FedEx has a policy that employees must give up their phones before beginning work on the floor.
FedEx issued a statement after the incident, saying it is cooperating with authorities and working to get more information.
“We are aware of the tragic shooting at our FedEx Ground facility near the Indianapolis airport," the company said on Twitter. "Safety is our top priority, and our thoughts are with all those who are affected."
Rep. Andre Carson, whose district includes Indianapolis, said early Friday that he was communicating with local authorities and his office was "ready to help everyone affected any way we can."
"I am heartbroken by the mass shooting at the FedEx facility here in Indianapolis and praying for all affected by this tragedy," he said via Twitter.
A witness who said he works at the facility told WISH-TV that he saw a man with a gun after hearing several gunshots.
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“I saw a man with a submachine gun of some sort, an automatic rifle, and he was firing in the open,” Jeremiah Miller said.
The shooting in Indianapolis comes after a pair of shootings last week – one in South Carolina that left six people dead, including the gunman, former NFL player Phillip Adams – and another at a cabinet-making facility in Texas.
Those incidents followed three high-profile mass shootings last month, beginning with a gunman’s rampage in Georgia that killed eight people at three spas in the Atlanta area on March 16. Less than a week later, a gunman killed 10 people inside a Colorado supermarket. Then, on the last day of March, four people – including a 9-year-old boy – were killed in a targeted shooting inside an office building in Southern California.
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