INDIANAPOLIS — Families and communities across Indianapolis are still dealing with gun violence.
In both 2022 and 2023, hospitals saw an increase in gunshot patients. This summer, hospitals are reporting that those numbers are going down.
“I’m blessed. I’m here for a reason,” Derrick Mcatee said.
Just waking up every day and going to work is special for Mcatee. He survived being shot years ago.
“Just [at] the wrong place at the wrong time, hanging out like everybody does,” he said. “I got caught by a stray bullet in the middle of a shootout. The bullet hit me behind my ear and came out of my head.”
To cope, he cuts hair at his barbershop and goes to school. He also gives teenagers free cuts through Barbershop Talk while talking to them about the impact of gun violence.
“I’m really just taking it one day at a time and talking to the kids,” Mcatee said.
Shootings have been declared a public health crisis.
"It's something that we see every day," Dr. Erik Streib said.
“Firearm injuries are a public health problem for Indiana, for Indianapolis and for America as a whole,” Dr. Streib said. “It’s now the leading cause of death for young people and we need to do something about that.”
Dr. Streib, the Chief of Trauma at Eskenazi Health, says while gun violence seems to happen a lot, his system has seen 40 fewer patients compared to this time last year.
"It's down about 19% and hopefully that's a correction from a peak that occurred during the pandemic," Dr. Streib said.
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They aren't alone. All area hospitals tell WRTV the number of gunshot victims is down this year but that doesn't mean the problem is going away.
“Some of those patients never make it to the hospital, so we don’t see those patients,” Dr. Streib said. “It’s also important to recognize that firearm suicides are a significant part of the problem. They actually exceed the number of homicides.”
Eskenazi Health says the three most common reasons for people to visit its emergency department are for injuries from motor vehicle accidents, gunshot wounds and falls.
“Just because we got a new law [that says] you can carry a gun doesn’t give you the right to use it anytime,” Mcatee said. “That’s somebody’s child. I’ve lost numerous people from gun violence. I almost lost myself.”
