Four people died in an overnight shooting inside an east-side apartment, marking Indianapolis' first quadruple homicide in nearly five years and punctuating a violent start to 2020.

The shooting came around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, police said, leaving behind four victims: Jalen Roberts, 19; Marcel Wills, 20; Braxton Ford, 21; and Kimari Hunt, 21. All were pronounced dead at the scene.

"In the blink of an eye, four young lives have been lost," Mayor Joe Hogsett said during a solemn news conference Thursday morning. "We can never allow ourselves to become numb to the scourge of gun violence and the toll that it is taking on whole generations of young people. This is not acceptable."

The shooting happened inside an apartment in the 4100 block of Shady Oak Drive, just east of the intersection of 42nd Street and Mitthoefer Road.

When Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officers arrived to the unit, they saw a back patio door shattered, possibly by gunfire, IMPD Deputy Chief Craig McCartt said during the news conference.

Witnesses told IMPD that more than one person could be seen running from the unit after the shooting.

Few other details have been released to the public as IMPD detectives begin working the case.

IMPD Chief Randal Taylor is asking the community to help. Witness protection money is available if fearful witnesses need it, Taylor said.

"We're focused on holding accountable the person or persons that's responsible for this, but we can't do this alone," IMPD Chief Randal Taylor said. "We're going to need help."

Taylor went on: "There's answers out there. There's people who know."

Taylor, McCartt and three other members of the IMPD command staff were at the scene late Wednesday as homicide and crime lab investigations collected evidence.

Officers finally removed the crime scene tape and left around 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

Area clergy held a prayer vigil outside of the apartment at noon Thursday.

"We not out here for no show, form or fashion. This means business right now," the Rev. Malachi Walker of Great Commission Church of God said. A dozen people held hands and prayed.

"We have hurting families, we have a community now that's living in fear," he said. "I strongly believe the hearts of people have to be changed before all this violence is going to stop."

The shooting happened roughly an hour after a Republican-proposed commission to study Indianapolis violence was rejected by members of the City-County Council's public safety committee.

Rick Snyder, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, was incensed.

"They injected politics into a nonpartisan issue, which is the safety of our community," Snyder said, standing at the shooting scene. "And it is shameful."

In a written statement posted to the council’s Twitter account after the meeting ended, committee chair Councilor Leroy Robinson, a Democrat, said the responsibility for gathering crime data and engaging residents and stakeholders in conversations about crime rests on the shoulders of the existing public safety committee.

Representatives for Hogsett, Sheriff Kerry Forestal, Prosecutor Ryan Mears and Clerk Myla Eldridge — all Democrats — also expressed their support of the committee's plans moving forward.

Snyder said beyond politics, Indianapolis residents and police need to begin working together to put an end to violence. A man of faith, he also suggested prayer.

"We can’t do this on our own," Snyder said. "This is pure evil that we’ve got going on in our city."

The four deaths punctuated what's been a troubling start to 2020. IMPD has opened 22 criminal homicide investigations already this year, according to an IndyStar analysis of IMPD data.

That number is higher than any of the last five years at this point in the year.

During the next-highest year, 2017, IMPD had opened 19 criminal investigations as of Feb. 6. It's more common to see 15 or fewer this early in the year.

Those numbers do not include non-criminal homicides, such as self-defense and accidental shootings.

The city's last quadruple homicide happened the morning of March 24, 2015, when a family member found Terry Bettis, 41; Sherri Taylor, 48; Tiara Turner, 32; and Davon Whitlock dead in the front room of a home in the 3100 block of North Harding Street.

Nearly four years later, 37-year-old Nicholas Dunn was arrested and charged with four counts of murder and unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon in connection to the killings.

Court documents said Dunn told his girlfriend that he committed the crime and laughed about how cool it was to shoot them. A jury trial for Dunn’s case is scheduled to begin on April 13.

The site of Wednesday night's shooting, Carriage House East Apartments, has seen its share of violence and tragedy in recent years.

In June 2019, in the same block where Wednesday night's homicides took place, 1-year-old Zaria Box was found dead of blunt force trauma. Her mother's boyfriend, Adrian Bostick, was charged in connection to the girl's death and is awaiting trial.

On New Year's Eve 2016, police were called to the complex to investigate the fatal shooting death of 5-year-old D'Asia Turentine. The girl's mother, Asia Turentine, was charged with neglect after police learned that the girl was shot by her 3-year-old brother after finding his mother's gun in her purse as she slept.

In January 2016, police found 18-year-old Da'Michael Forrest dead in a vacant apartment within the complex.

At the scene of the quadruple homicide Wednesday night, Assistant Chief Chris Bailey briefly spoke with reporters about the state of violence in Indianapolis.

"Obviously, this is a tragedy for our community, one that we've seen played over and over again, and too many times, impacting too many families and too many communities," Bailey said. "We're devastated, and those communities are devastated, and the family members of those that are dead are going to be devastated, as well."

Bailey's message to whoever killed the four victims is simple: “I'd want to know why. What gives you the right to take another person's life in such a manner?"

Anyone with information about this incident can call the IMPD Homicide Office at 317-327-3475 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477.

Mobile tips may also be given through the P3tips app for Apple or Android phones or at CrimeTips.org.

IndyStar reporter Justin L. Mack contributed to this story.

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

Contact IndyStar reporter Vic Ryckaert at 317-444-2701 or vic.ryckaert@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @VicRyc.

Contact IndyStar reporter Ryan Martin at 317-444-6294 or ryan.martin@indystar.com. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter: @ryanmartin