IMPD: 5 people, unborn child killed in 'largest mass casualty shooting in over a decade'

Jan. 25 Update | Police have arrested a juvenile in connection with the mass shootings on Adams Street early Sunday morning.

Police issued the following statement along with news of the arrests:

“Yesterday, we promised swift justice for this heinous act. Today, we delivered on that promise," said IMPD Chief Randal Taylor. "While removing the alleged perpetrator of yesterday's mass murder from our neighborhoods does not bring back the lives senselessly lost, hopefully, it will bring us one step closer to healing as a community. I am grateful to all of the IMPD officers and criminal justice partners who have worked tirelessly for the last 30 plus hours to bring justice for these victims, their friends and families, and our entire community. I ask community members to join me in praying for the continued recovery of the young man whose life has been forever changed.”

INDIANAPOLIS — Detectives are investigating after five people and an unborn child were killed in a shooting and a boy was injured early Sunday morning on the northeast side of Indianapolis.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were called just before 4 a.m. to the 3300 block of East 36th Street on the report of a person shot.

Officers found a boy with an apparent gunshot wound when they arrived, IMPD Sgt. Shane Foley said. He was taken to a local hospital and is expected to survive.

Around 4:40 a.m., officers received information and responded to the 3500 block of Adams Street, Foley said. When officers entered the house, they found five people who were killed and suffering from apparent gunshot wounds.

A woman who was pregnant was taken to a local hospital where she, and her unborn child, did not survive, Foley said.

The following people were killed in the incident, according to the Marion County Coroner's Office:

• Kezzie Childs, 42
• Raymond Childs Jr., 42
• Elijah Childs, 18
• Rita Childs, 13
• Kiara Hawkins, 19
• Unborn child of Kiara Hawkins

Records show the first officers arrived at Adams Street within two minutes of the 911 call.

"Just this last week, we talked about investments that we're making, resources were devoting to stopping crime and violence here in Indianapolis," IMPD Chief Randal Taylor said. "Drug-related crimes, domestic violence, violence driven by poverty or desperation. But what we saw this morning was a different kind of evil."

So far in the investigation, detectives do not believe this appears to be a random act.

"There are no right words to say at this time," Taylor said. "Time in our community must come to terms with the largest mass casualty shooting in more than a decade. I myself am heartbroken for the lives that have been taken too soon. For the young life that has forever been changed, and for the life that never got a chance to start."

He said he is angry someone felt they had the right to commit this "senseless act in the community, our community."

While the police are working to improve the neighborhoods in the city, Taylor said the department can't do it alone.

"I don't know what goes through a person's mind," Taylor said. "I don't know what kind of lie they listen to in their head that would tell them that pulling the trigger on anybody, but especially on this many people, is the right thing to do. Our community doesn't deserve this."

He is urging anyone with information to come forward and submit tips anonymously if needed.

"This morning, one or more individuals perpetrated an act of evil in our city," Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said. "While we're still learning more about the circumstances that led to this incident, I want to be very clear about something, what happened this morning was not an act of simple gun violence. As tragic as a simple act of gun violence is, what happened this morning was a mass murder."

Hogsett said he has been in contact with the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District of Indiana, the FBI Indianapolis Field Office, and other law enforcement agencies.

"I want those responsible to know that the full might of local state and federal law enforcement are coming for them as I speak," Hogsett said. "Coming for them today, coming for them tonight, coming for them tomorrow, and the day after that. Coming for them as long as it takes to find them."

Behind the scenes, police are working with federal law enforcement agencies on a massive manhunt. They are following up on a few tips, sources tell WRTV, but haven't released anything specific as of now.

He is urging anyone with information to come forward.

"Be the person who says this type of violence, this senseless terror, has no place in our community," Hogsett said.

The FBI Indianapolis Field Office will assist IMPD with the investigation if requested, according to a statement from the FBI.

Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detectives at 317-327-3475 or report tips anonymously to Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-TIPS (8477) or online.

According to Gun Violence Archives, the incident is the second mass homicide of 2021. The other happened on Jan. 9 in Evanston, Illinois.

The mass homicide on Adams Street comes 15 years after the horrific scene in June 2006 on Hamilton Avenue.

WRTV Investigates reporter Rafael Sanchez contributed to this report.