Three Separate Shootings Downtown On July 4th

The Star's John Tuohy notes three separate shootings during the 4th of July festivities in downtown Indianapolis. A 17-year-old boy was shot while riding in a car near Market & Illinois Streets, while another 17-year-old boy was shot in the foot as he was leaving the canal area at Senate Avenue & Ohio Street. Gunshots were also reported near the corner of Capital Avenue and Maryland Street. Some people are in denial of the growing crime problem in all areas of the city, including downtown:

[City-County Councilor Ben] Hunter, chairman of the City-County Council's Public Safety Committee, said he spent the day Downtown and felt as safe as he ever had.

“I consider Downtown safe and I and confident that public safety does what they need to do to protect all neighborhoods,” he said.

Hunter said large gatherings tend to attract “individuals who make poor choices.”

And when they do, police pounce, he said.

“You can’t say when someone makes a poor choice, ‘Oh, why didn’t he police chief do this or that’?” he said.

When "individuals make poor choices . . . police pounce"? Did I miss something in this story? The writer makes no mention of any arrests being made in connection with any of the three separate shooting incidents that claimed at least two young victims. "Police are investigating three separate shootings Downtown last night and early this morning that injured two teen-agers," Tuohy writes. "Investigating" does not equate to making arrests, Councilor Hunter.

Incidentally, did police ever figure out who the second shooter was during last year's Black Expo summer celebration? Just a thought as we approach that annual event that causes residents to avoid our "safe downtown" like the plague despite the massive police presence.