On October 13, 2019, at about 2AM, the Bloomington DIY music scene was violated by two active shooters that resulted in the injury and hospitalization of two people.

The Brickhouse (422 S Grant St) has been a DIY music venue in Bloomington for well beyond a decade. Generations of students and communities have come and gone through Brickhouse, each providing the music and arts scene of Bloomington with a safe, inclusive, and collaborative environment to celebrate music, art, love, and community.

Brickhouse never lost sight of its core values. This year (2019) has been no different, as the current tenants have proven an emphasis on creating a safe environment for all who attend events.

On October 13, 2019, at about 2AM, Brickhouse was informed of dangerous peoples in the house, and they took action by removing and kicking out these attendees from the show. Unfortunately, those who were removed decided to escalate the situation and violate our DIY scene by firing 30 shots outside of the house. 2 people were injured and the neighborhood went into panic.

Located just a few blocks from campus, events at The Brickhouse are primarily attended by students. Hundreds of students are outraged that an active shooter alert was never sent out by IU, given the relevance of the event to the student population. Many students found themselves walking through an active shooter zone, because they were not warned otherwise. Nearby neighbors of the Brickhouse suffered traumatic stress after hearing gunshots outside of their homes with no explanation as to what happened.

Students are also outraged at the university’s decision to evict the tenants from Brickhouse if they did not agree to move out. They were only given 4 days to move out, as repercussion for a shooting that was clearly out of their control.

The goal of this petition is to:

-demand a change in policy regarding IU’s emergency alerts. Many believe that an active shooter alert should have been sent out the night of the Brickhouse show. This is reflective of the notion that alerts should not be limited to incidents on campus.

-shine a light of justice upon the tenants of Brickhouse, recognize their efforts to create a safe environment, recognize their efforts to mediate the dangerous situation that violated their home, and recognize the hardships that the university has unjustifiably brought their way.

In this time of despair, it is important that the DIY community recognize the need for a united, vigilant environment at all events. May we take lesson from this situation to prevent any tragedies from occurring in the future. May we all seek responsibility in keeping eachother safe and secure.

Our hearts are with you, Brickhouse.