At least 8 die in latest mass shooting
Police seek motive in latest U.S. massacre
Authorities on Friday had yet to identify what may have motivated a former employee who fatally shot eight workers at a Fedex facility in Indianapolis and wounded several others before taking his own life.
The incident — the latest in a spate of mass shootings in the U.S. — unfolded at a Fedex operations centre near Indianapolis International Airport in Indiana after 11 p.m. local time on Thursday night, police said.
It lasted only a couple of minutes and was over by the time police arrived, Craig Mccartt, the Indianapolis police department's deputy chief, told a news briefing Friday.
Witnesses described a chaotic attack, as the gunman opened fire in the parking lot before entering the facility and continuing to shoot, leaving victims inside and outside the building. Officers found the suspect dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
A Fedex spokeswoman confirmed that he was a former employee.
He has been identified as Brandon Scott Hole, 19, a law enforcement source told Reuters.
FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Paul Keenan said it would be “premature to speculate” on the gunman's motive.
The Associated Press reported that investigators searched a home in Indianapolis associated with Hole and seized evidence, including desktop computers and other electronic media, according to the law enforcement officials, who were not permitted to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Vice-president Kamala Harris said there is “no question this violence must end.”
Nearly 20,000 Americans died last year from gun violence, not including suicide — 25 per cent more than in 2019, and more than in any other year in at least two decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A Fedex employee, Levi Miller, told NBC'S Today Show he saw a “hooded figure” holding what appeared to be an Ar-style semi-automatic rifle who shouted and opened fire outside the facility.
Another worker at the air freight facility told local TV station WRTV he was eating when he heard what sounded like “two loud metal clangs” followed by more shots.
“Somebody went behind their car to the trunk and then got another gun,” he said. “Then I saw one body on the floor.”
Five people were taken to hospitals with gunshot wounds, including one in critical condition, police said. Two more were treated on site by medical staff and released.