Holly V. Hays

holly.hays@indystar.com

Update 10:30 a.m. April 14, 2017: The Marion County coroner's office identified the victim of Thursday night's shooting at an east-side motel as 18-year-old Lawrence Barnes.

The young man from Indianapolis was shot to death about 10 p.m. Thursday during an argument in a room at the Shadeland Inn, 3525 Shadeland Ave., police said.

After the shooting, metropolitan police interviewed a man who was treated for a gunshot wound at Community Hospital East.

Officer Aaron Hamer, a spokesman for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, did not know if the wounded man had been arrested and said no further updates were available Friday morning.

Earlier: Police say four young children were inside an east-side motel room Thursday night when a man was fatally shot during an argument.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officers were dispatched to the Shadeland Inn in the 3500 block of North Shadeland Avenue just after 10 p.m. on reports of a person shot, according to IMPD Maj. Richard Riddle.

Responders found a man, believed to be in his late 20s or early 30s, with at least one gunshot wound inside one of the motel rooms. Riddle said four children, all toddlers, were present in the room as the fatal shot was fired.

"By the grace of God or a stroke of luck, depending on your belief system, we did not have a child injured today," Riddle said.

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Police have not disclosed how or if the victim is related to the children.

Investigators believe two groups of men met at the hotel and began arguing, the situation turning violent as both sides brandished weapons and fired. In addition to leaving one dead, a stray bullet also struck a power line outside the hotel, causing a small electrical fire, Riddle said.

Shortly after officers arrived at the hotel, another man walked into Community Hospital East with a gunshot wound. Investigators believe he is a person of interest in the shooting, Riddle said, and detectives interviewed him at the hospital. His condition has not been released.

This is the second time in as many weeks that children have witnessed a deadly crime in Indianapolis.

On April 3, two young children were unharmed when a man fired into their northeast side apartment, killing their mother and critically injuring their father.

"We have had multiple incidents where children are either a witness to or surrounded by violence or violent actions by an adult that are within their care," Riddle said. "That is very unfortunate, it is very concerning for us, and we obviously ask for the parents to do the right thing, not put your children in danger, and if you feel that situation may become violent or any type of altercation may occur, do the right thing: Call 911, get that child out of that dangerous situation."

"It's just sad that these young children ... have been witnesses to such violent acts among what we should think of as responsible adults."

Call IndyStar reporter Holly Hays at (317) 444-6156. Follow her on Twitter: @hollyvhays.