INDIANAPOLIS — The Broad Ripple Village Association held an emergency meeting Tuesday regarding safety plans.
WRTV is told changes will be made this weekend.
"The problem is the guns," said Kip Tew, Broad Ripple Village Association Board Member.
Aftert three people were shot and killed in Broad Ripple over the weekend, there has been a rising concern about senseless violence there.
RELATED | 3 killed, 1 injured after Broad Ripple shooting (wrtv.com)
"It's just crazy. It's crazy at nighttime. It's got to be a solution. There's a better way than this," said local resident Dementri Wilson.
Kip Tew with the Broad Ripple Village Association says the solution is working with IMPD and the city to finalize a special event permit which will make the area a gun free zone.
He says the permit will be for a specific area inside Broad Ripple, meaning people will only be able to get in if they go through a metal detector.
It's the same concept we saw for the Wonder-Road music festival earlier this month.
RELATED | WonderRoad Music Fest enacts “Gun Free Zone” as part of violence reduction plan (wrtv.com)
"Obviously this weekend was a horrible tragedy and you know, we're not immune, no place is immune. I said it the other day, and I think it's truth. The only place in America that's safe from gun violence right now is behind a magnetometer," said Tew. "We've seen people killed in grocery stores, we've seen people killed in schools, we've seen people killed everywhere, except in stadiums, and airports, because why? Because they have magnetometers and their gun free zones. And we want to enjoy ourselves. And we want people to come to Broad Ripple and enjoy themselves. So we're gonna take the steps we need to try to make that happen."
Where this will be set up and what businesses will be affected are still in the works. The association says it's working on issues like what time will these be in place, who is going to staff it, and more.
"Really, the conversations have been trying to work through all the issues that might come from special events, insurance issues, liability issues, logistics issues of what do we shut down? What do we secure? How are we going to take care of both our our people who come and patronize and businesses to make sure that there's the least amount of impact? So, all those kinds of questions we've been wrestling with," said Tew.
People who work and live in Broad Ripple including Bruce Nebergall are all in for any changes to curb gun violence.
"Personally, I think to everybody who works in the area, I would feel a lot safer. If we knew that people were kind of not carrying weapons and not able to, anything we could do to limit the access. I think most of us who work right here would be really, really happy to see that," said Nebergall.
The changes expected to go in effect this weekend are expected to be officially announced later this week.
The association says it's had several meetings with IMPD and the city to find solutions to curb gun violence.
It's also working with metro police to keep the parking lots clear after the businesses have closed.
IMPD says people tailgating after hours has been a problem.
