Eight killed in mass shooting at US FedEx facility
PRESIDENT Joe Biden said action must be taken following the latest mass shooting which saw eight people killed at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis by a former employee.
It comes after the FBI said the killer was interviewed by agents last year, after his mother called police to say that her son might commit “suicide by cop”.
Coroners released the names of the victims late on Friday, a less than 24 hours after the latest mass shooting to rock the US.
Four of them were members of Indianapolis’ Sikh community.
The attack was another blow to the Asian American community a month after six people of Asian descent were killed in a mass shooting in the Atlanta area and amid ongoing attacks against Asian Americans during the pandemic.
The Marion County Coroner’s office identified the dead as Matthew R Alexander, 32; Samaria Blackwell, 19; Amarjeet Johal, 66; Jaswinder Kaur, 64; Jaswinder Singh, 68; Amarjit Sekhon, 48; Karli Smith, 19; and John Weisert, 74.
The gunman was identified as Brandon Scott Hole, 19, of Indianapolis, Deputy Police
McCartt told a news conference. Investigators searched a home in Indianapolis associated with Hole and seized evidence, including desktop computers and other electronic media, McCartt said.
Hole began firing randomly at people in the FedEx car park late on Thursday, killing four, before entering the building, fatally shooting four more people and then turning the gun on himself, Mr McCartt said.
He said he did not know if Hole owned the gun legally.
“There was no confrontation with anyone that was there,” he said.
“He just appeared to randomly start shooting.”
McCartt said there were at least 100 people in the facility at the time. Several people were wounded, including five who were taken to the hospital.
McCartt said Hole was a former employee of FedEx and last worked for the company in 2020.
The deputy police chief said he did not know why Hole left the job or if he had ties to the workers in the facility.
He said police have not yet uncovered a motive.