IMPD: Arrest made in weekend canal shooting that left 3 wounded

INDIANAPOLIS -- One person has been arrested following a shooting on the downtown canal early Saturday morning that left three people injured, officials with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department told FOX59/CBS4.




Crime scene tape is still tied to a tree and the gate of a home in the 600 block of the Canal Walk where IMPD recovered lots of shell casings and multiple guns.




Michael Bright, 18, was shot in the jaw and has emerged from a medically induced coma. James Ditman, Bright's stepfather, said his attacker was identified from a photograph found on social media.




"They came up behind him and said something or fired a shot and when he turned around, they shot him in the face. Dropped him first," Ditman said. "It happened so fast and there were so many shots fired that it was just chaos."

Ditman said his stepson and his friends were walking past two people when words were exchanged. Those people reportedly called their friends for backup.




"'Hey, there's some dudes down here. Y'all get down here, come down to the canal now,'" Ditman quoted Bright's friends as saying. "As their group walked away, those two guys were still there and from what I'm understanding, they came from the stairs down by the gym because there's shell casing(s) all through there."




The confrontation reportedly began near the Colts Playscape just off St. Clair Street.




A longtime neighbor said late at night, the greenspace and the movable chairs arrayed near the playscape provide a place for armed people to party.








"So what happens is at night these movable chairs that the Department of Metropolitan Development allows to be placed out there by the Cultural Trail Foundation get dragged into darkened areas along the canal where folks gather and oftentimes partake in drugs and alcohol and then those groups tend to get into disturbances with other groups doing the same thing and ultimately I think that is what leads to violence," said Andrew Cullen, who also said he has a meeting set with a city-county councilor to talk about rules changes, a Playscape curfew or removing the chairs.




"I think it's time for a community conversation about whether we should have a permanent curfew during the summer months along canal walk," said Cullen.




Off-duty officers typically patrol the canal late at night, but Saturday morning's shooting happened after the officers ended their patrols.




Ditman said in the hospital, Bright identified a photograph of one of his alleged shooters.




"We just built a brand new jail. Put 'em in there. Put 'em in there. If that's where they need to go, put 'em in there," said Ditman. "Even though they're 16, 17, 15-years old, lock 'em up, Indiana, change your laws. Lock 'em up."





via: https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/impd-arrest-made-in-weekend-canal-shooting-that-left-3-wounded/