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In the latest mass shooting in the United States, the suspect who was “possibly suicidal” and eight victims died; many others were injured. Late Thursday night, Brandon Scott Hole opened fire at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, according to NBC News, on April 16, 2021.
He turned his weapon on himself before the police arrived on the scene. Officers found the suspected shooter dead; he was 19 years old.
The wounded include four individuals who were shot and another who was “injured.” They were all transported to local hospitals.
No police officers were hurt in the shooting. The suspect was employed at FedEx last fall, according to authorities.
Craig McCartt, deputy chief of criminal investigations for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, spoke at a press conference Friday morning. He explained the motive behind the shooting is not immediately clear. McCartt indicated the initial investigation does not show a disturbance or argument took place before the incident.
However, Hole’s mom thought he was suicidal. In March 2020, she contacted the local police department to report her son might try to put himself in a situation with the intent to die at the hands of a law enforcement officer, aka “¹suicide by cop,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Paul Keenan from the Indianapolis office.
Officers removed a shotgun from his home. The FBI interviewed him in April based on items found in his bedroom. They did not discover any Racially Motivated Violent Extremism (RMVE) ideology during their investigation, nor did they discover any criminal violations against Hole. They did not return the shotgun to the suspect.
The police responded to a reported shooting at about 11 p.m. ET. Officers arrived at an active shooter incident.
During the Friday morning news conference, McCartt said it appeared the suspected shooter arrived at the facility, got out of his car, and began randomly shooting outside the 
building. Four bodies were found outside. The other four were discovered inside the facility.
An employee at the facility recalled that he was sitting outside the building and thought he heard a car with engine problems. He soon figured out he heard shooting.
He stood up and saw a man, a hooded figure, who has a rifle. The man began shouting and began shooting in random directions. The employee said he could not tell what the guy was shouting. He ducked for cover after he thought the shooter spotted him.
FedEx CEO Frederick W. Smith said the shooting victims were employees. Friday evening, authorities released the names of the eight shooting victims:
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.
There have been at least 147 mass shootings in the United States in 2021, according to data from the GVA, a non-profit based in Washington.
Addressing the deluge of shootings in the country, Vice President Kamala Harris said Friday:
Yet again we have families in America that are grieving the loss of their family members because of gun violence. There is no question this violence must end and we are thinking of the families that lost their loved ones.
Editor’s Note: ¹The National Library of Medicine’s defines “suicide by cop” as:
Suicide by cop is a term used by law enforcement officers to describe an incident in which a suicidal individual intentionally engages in life-threatening and criminal behavior with a lethal weapon or what appears to be a lethal weapon toward law enforcement officers or civilians to specifically provoke officers to shoot the suicidal individual in self-defense or to protect civilians.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741, or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
Written by Cathy Milne-Ware
Sources:
Fox News: Indianapolis police say at least 8 dead, ‘multiple’ injured in shooting at FedEx facility; by Brie Stimson
The New York Times: Live Updates: At Least 8 Dead in Shooting at Indianapolis FedEx Warehouse, Police Say
NBC News: 8 FedEx employees killed in shooting at Indianapolis facility; suspect also dead; by Phil Helsel, Kurt Chirbas, and Elisha Fieldstadt
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Direct Relief’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
