Year-end shooting data reveals Indianapolis on pace to set new homicide record

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The city of Indianapolis crept closer to setting a new annual record for criminal homicides with the shooting death of an unidentified man Saturday morning on the west side.

The victim was found slumped on the front porch of a house in the 2600 block of Jackson Street with multiple gunshot wounds, according to investigators, and succumbed to his injuries at Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital within an hour.

More than 24 hours later, the homicide suspect remained at large and authorities said they had no information to release about the identity, whereabouts or motive of the shooter.

The killing — far from merely a weekend news item featuring the nameless and faceless — struck a nerve, prompting reaction from community leaders and some public officials.

“Collaboration and partnerships are going to be the key to reducing the violence in Indy,” said Rev. Charles Harrison, leader of the Indianapolis Ten Point Coalition. “We can significantly bring down the murders and homicide numbers in partnership with law enforcement in 2019. Remember, no one group or agency can curb the violence alone.”

The Jackson Street shooting marked the 156th criminal homicide case of 2018 in Indianapolis, according to police data.

The death toll — projected to exceed the record 157 criminal homicides reported in 2017 — does not include self defense, police action or accidental shootings.

The three-digit figure also fails to reflect the number of relatives and friends whose lives are shattered by each homicide, community leaders noted, in addition to the scope of non-deadly gun violence.

A woman shot Saturday night on the city’s east side, hours after the investigation on the west side, had no statistical impact on the count; she was shot in the leg and survived.

No arrests were made in connection with the shooting, reported around 10 p.m. in the 3600 block of North Richardt Avenue.

The impact of violent crime across Indianapolis, deadly or not, cannot be conveyed in numbers alone but police data supports a grim projection.

With an average of one criminal homicide case occurring every 2.3 days, the city is on pace to exceed its 2017 record by approximately three deaths.