INDIANAPOLIS — With at least 317 non-fatal shootings and at least 117 homicides this year, people who live in Indianapolis are being impacted by this violence even if they aren't directly involved. Shana Glenn is one of them. For the last month, she and here family have been living out of hotels.
"We've been hotel hopping. We've been here for going on two weeks and we were downtown and we were on Shadeland," Glenn said.
She's doing this to keep her family safe after several incidents at the Beechwood Gardens Apartments.
"My children were scared to stay there. I was scared to stay there."
Earlier this month, a man was killed and another was hurt in a shooting at Beechwood Gardens. Glenn said she and her family heard and unfortunately, saw the aftermath.
"We woke up to gunfire. We heard a loud bang," Glenn said. "Looked out the side window and there was someone who had been murdered outside the house."
While that incident was very scary, Glenn said she wasn't surprise it happened because three months before that, she described how a bullet was shot through her apartment.
"We were sleeping and a bullet came through my shower, my bedroom and through my children's room."
The Indianapolis Housing Agency operates Beechwood Gardens Apartments. WRTV reached out to them and asked about the concerns Glenn spoke of.
They explained that they're working to get ahead of problems by being proactive. They've committed to increasing 24/7 security at IHA communities. They're enforcing lease agreements, making sure only those on the lease are living in their apartments. They're hosting community events to foster goodwill between residents and IMPD. They're upgrading their cameras to the best available which have facial recognition technology, the ability to zoom in on license plates, and giving IMPD access to tap into the cameras to get information on crimes as they are happening.
Glenn is aware of all those efforts but still doesn't feel safe bringing her family back to Beechwood Gardens. She's hoping IHA will help facilitate a transfer to a new, safer, apartment complex.
"I don't want to stay here. I'm in a bad spot. I don't know what the community or neighborhood has going on but I stay to myself and I want to move."
The IHA said at this time, they're not doing any resident transfers. There is a long wait list and limited availability. As that wait list shortens, the agency said they will try its best to accommodate requests from all residents who are in good standing.
