Indianapolis police said Thursday that the man who shot and killed eight people at a FedEx center in the southwest the day before was a former employee of the facility. The 19-year-old gunman, who has a history of mental illness, was questioned by FBI agents last year, the FBI said.
Indianapolis Police Deputy Commissioner Craig McCarter held a press conference on the 16th to confirm the gunman’s name as Brandon Scott Hall. Investigators searched a Hall-related home in Indianapolis and seized electronic devices such as desktop computers. Police have not confirmed a motive for the shooting.
McCarter said Hall opened fire in the parking lot of the FedEx Center late Friday night, killing four people. He then entered the building and shot four more people before shooting himself. Mr McCarter said it was unclear whether Hall legally owned the gun.
” (Hall) didn’t have a conflict with anyone at the time.” McCarter said the shooting lasted several minutes, when at least 100 people were inside the FedEx center, many of them on shifts or eating breaks. The shooting also injured several people, five of whom were taken to hospital.
According to McCarter, FedEx confirmed that Hall was a former employee of the center and that his last appearance was in the fall of 2020. Mr. McCarter said the reason for Mr. Hall’s departure was unclear.
Indianapolis Police Chief Randall Taylor said “quite a few” employees at the FedEx Center were from the Sikh community. The Sikh League later issued a statement confirming that at least four of the victims were Sikhs and wanted a “full investigation”.
FBI Agent Paul Keenan said in a statement that Hall’s mother reported to the police last March that her son may have tried to “kill himself with the help of the police.” Police later temporarily detained Hall on the grounds of mental health problems.
According to Keenan, detectives seized a shotgun at Hall’s home at the time. Hall was questioned by FBI agents last April. The assessment did not find that he had “racially motivated violent extremist ideas” or illegal acts, and the shotgun was later confiscated.
After the shooting, U.S. President Joseph Biden on the 16th ordered the White House and other public buildings to lower the flag at half-mast, and again called on Congress to pass tougher gun control measures. Biden announced a series of executive actions earlier this month to strengthen gun control, including banning “ghost guns” that don’t have serial numbers and can’t be traced.
“It has to end,” Biden said.
The United States has classified the shooting of at least four people as a serious shooting. So far this year, there have been 147 serious shootings in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive website.
