Eight people killed in mass shooting at Fedex facility in Indianapolis

Eight people have been shot dead by a gunman at a Fedex facility in the US city of Indianapolis, before the shooter killed himself, police said.

Several other people were injured in the incident near Indianapolis International Airport and four were taken to hospital, police spokesperson Genae Cook said.

One person is said to be critically ill. The gunman was not immediately identified, and investigators are in the process of conducting interviews and gathering information.

"As officers arrived, they came into contact with an active shooting incident," Ms Cook said, adding that it had taken place at around 11pm local time. "After a preliminary search of the grounds, inside and out, we have located eight people at the scene with injuries consistent to gunshot wounds. Those eight were pronounced deceased here at the scene.”

Ms Cook said it is too early to tell whether the shooter was an employee at the facility, and paid tribute to the officers involved. "It is very heart-breaking and, you know, in the Indianapolis Metro Police Department, the officers responded,... they went in and they did their job," she said. "And a lot of them are trying to face this because this is a sight that no-one should ever have to see." The gunman later killed himself.

Fedex earlier said it was co-operating with authorities and working to get more information, adding: "We are aware of the tragic shooting at our Fedex Ground facility near the Indianapolis airport. "Safety is our top priority, and our thoughts are with all those who are affected."

Family members gathered at a local hotel to await word on loved ones. Some said employees are not allowed to have their phones with them while working shifts at the facility, making it difficult to contact them, WTHR-TV reported.

Live video from news outlets at the scene showed crime scene tape in the car park outside the facility. A witness who said he works at the facility told WISH-TV that he saw a man with a gun after hearing several gunshots. Jeremiah Miller said: "I saw a man with a submachine gun of some sort, an automatic rifle, and he was firing in the open." Another man told WTTV that his niece was sitting in her car in the driver's seat when gunfire erupted. "She got shot on her left arm," said Parminder Singh. "She's fine, she's in the hospital now."

The shooting was the latest in a string of mass shootings across the US in recent months. Eight people were fatally shot at massage businesses in Atlanta, and ten died at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, last month.

This was at least the third mass shooting this year in Indianapolis. Five people, including a pregnant woman, were shot and killed in January, and a man was accused of killing three adults and a child before abducting his daughter during at argument at a home in March.

Last week, President Joe Biden announced his first steps since taking office to tighten gun controls following a series of mass shootings. It includes efforts to set rules for certain guns.