Our live coverage has ended for the day.
The investigation continues into a mass shooting in Indianapolis late Thursday that claimed the lives of eight people.
Here’s what we know:
Indianapolis Police has released the names of the deceased victims from Thursday night’s shooting.
The victims are:
A statement by IMPD says the next of kin has been notified by the Marion County Coroner’s Office.
The cause of death will be determined after autopsies are complete, according to the statement.
IMPD said the names of those injured are not being released.
President Biden urged Congress today to take swift action on gun reform, calling the recent episodes of gun violence that have roiled the nation a “national embarrassment.”
“It is a national embarrassment what’s going on,” said the President, speaking at a joint news conference with Japan’s prime minister.
Responding to a reporter’s question, Biden defended his administration’s agenda, saying he was able to pursue gun reform even while pushing for a major infrastructure spending focused on repairing the economy.
“I’ve never stopped supporting the ban on assault weapons and magazines that hold more than 10 bullets,” he said. “It doesn’t mean I can’t also be working at the same time on the economy and on Covid.”
Biden then urged the US Senate, which is narrowly controlled by Democrats, to take up House-passed legislation that would require background checks on all gun sales and transfers, among other initiatives.
“It’s not a question of my being able to set the agenda in the Senate as to what they will move to first, and so I continue and I strongly, strongly urge my Republican friends in the Congress, who even refuse to bring up the House-passed bill to bring it up now,” he said.
The mother of the gunman in the shooting at a FedEx facility told law enforcement in March 2020 that he might try to “commit suicide by cop,” the FBI Indianapolis office said in a statement.
FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Paul Keenan said in a statement sent to CNN that the gunman, Brandon Hole, was placed on an immediate detention mental health temporary hold by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. He also said a shotgun was seized at Hole’s residence.
“Based on items observed in the suspect’s bedroom at that time, he was interviewed by the FBI in April 2020. No Racially Motivated Violent Extremism (RMVE) ideology was identified during the course of the assessment and no criminal violation was found,” Keenan said in the statement. “The shotgun was not returned to the suspect.”
Vice President Kamala Harris tweeted on the shooting in Indianapolis, saying “our nation grieves with the families who lost loved ones in Indianapolis and we pray that those who were wounded recover quickly.”
Read her tweet:
Authorities are still working to identify the victims in Thursday’s shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis, said Craig McCartt, the deputy chief of criminal investigations for Indianapolis Police.
“We’re to the point now where we’re identifying victims, making notifications to the family and then hopefully we will wrap up the processing of this crime scene here very shortly and be done at least with this portion of the investigation,” he said.
What we know: Eight people were killed after a gunman opened fire outside and inside the facility.
The shooting is the country’s deadliest since 10 people were killed on March 22 at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado.
Officials haven’t released the names of victims.
During the time of the mass shooting late Thursday in Indianapolis, there were at least 100 people inside the FedEx facility, Craig McCartt, the deputy chief of criminal investigations for Indianapolis Police, said during a news conference Friday afternoon.
The gunman in the shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, has been identified as 19-year-old Brandon Hole, according to Craig McCartt, the deputy chief of criminal investigations for Indianapolis Police.
“FedEx officials have confirmed that Mr. Hole was a former employee at the facility, and he was last employed in 2020,” McCartt said.
“We’ve recently identified him so now the work really begins trying to establish some of that and see if we can figure out some sort of motive in this, but we don’t have that right now,” he said.
FedEx declined to name the suspect, but spokesperson Jim Masilak told CNN, “We can confirm that the perpetrator was a former employee at the facility.”
“Further questions about the perpetrator should be direct to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department,” he added.
According to authorities, the gunman opened fire outside and inside a FedEx facility near Indianapolis’ main airport late Thursday, killing eight people, wounding several others and sending witnesses running before taking his own life.
President Biden tweeted on Friday afternoon after the Indianapolis mass shooting, writing that he and the vice president have been briefed and that the country “can, and must, do more to reduce gun violence and save lives.”
Read the tweet:
The suspect in the Indianapolis mass shooting was known to federal and local authorities prior to the attack. A family member of the suspected shooter reached out to authorities warning about the suspect’s potential for violence, according to three law enforcement sources briefed on the matter.
It was not clear when the warning was given but the outreach was followed up by both local authorities and FBI, which opened a preliminary investigation into any possible threat, the sources said.
The FBI eventually closed their inquiry after concluding there wasn’t sufficient evidence to continue it, according to the sources who did not specify why federal investigators dropped the matter.
The suspect has not been publicly identified. The FBI is helping Indianapolis Metro Police Department “on the search of the suspects home,” the FBI special agent in charge Paul Keenan said at a Friday morning news conference.
Asked whether authorities had any indication this attack would occur, police said no.
“We’re still working with FedEx security for anything that might have been an indication this was going to happen right now,” said Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Deputy Chief Craig McCartt, at the same Friday briefing.
A spokesperson for the police department declined to comment about CNN’s reporting.
“Well once we positively identify who he is, we will be able to research further,” spokesperson Genae Cook said.
There have been at least 147 mass shooting incidents in 2021 in the US, according to data from The Gun Violence Archive.
The Gun Violence Archive (GVA), a non-profit based out of Washington DC, is an independent research group not affiliated with any advocacy organization, according to its website.
CNN and GVA consider an incident to be a mass shooting if four or more people are shot, wounded, or killed, excluding the gunman.
Since March 16, there have been at least 45 mass shootings across the nation, CNN has reported.
Note: This number is fluid. It can and will change with new or updated data.
Eight people and a gunman are dead following a shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis late Thursday. Several other people were also injured.
City leaders and law enforcement held a news conference Friday morning. Here’s what we learned:
What we still don’t know:
Reaction:
The timeline:
President Biden said he’s been briefed on the mass shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is ordering flags at half-staff at the White House.
Read the President’s full statement:
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the White House is “horrified” by the shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, and added that President Biden has been briefed on the incident.
“Key aides, including the White House chief of staff and homeland security adviser have been in touch with local leaders and law enforcement officials on the ground,” she told reporters on Friday.
Paski also reminded that the President issued executive orders to address gun violence in the United States — stopping the proliferation of ghost guns and better regulating stabilizing braces, making it easier for states to implement red flag laws; increasing investments in improving community violence intervention programs.
She also renewed the call for the Senate to speedily confirm David Chipman, Biden’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and pass legislation to strengthen background checks and ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines and immunity for gun manufacturers.
Psaki said a statement from the President will be released shortly.
Watch:
Vice President Kamala Harris briefly addressed the deadly shooting in Indianapolis and said President Biden would address the incident later Friday.
Shortly before Harris’ comments, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration was “horrified” by the shooting.
Watch:
Alfarena McGinty, the chief deputy coroner at the Marion County Coroner’s Office, said they are not able to identify any of the shooting victims yet, and the coroner’s office is “in the process of conducting our investigation.”
“What we typically have to do is wait until all of the evidence has been collected. We are not able to go on to the scene yet to confirm any identity,” she said.
Right now, McGinty said the coroner’s office is working with the police department’s Victim Assistance and Chaplin Office to gather information.
She explained how the state of Indiana specifies how victims are identified, adding, “that process will take a little bit of time.”
“We are still a number of hours out before we are able to go on to the scene to conduct our investigation, and then after that, we’ll work with the families. Following that process, what we have to do is we will perform our examinations,” she said, adding extra staff will be called in to complete those examinations in the next 48 to 72 hours.
Those investigations will confirm the actual cause of death, McGinty said.
Watch:
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said just last week, he had joined 150 mayors across America and signed a letter to the US Senate asking to consider legislation that requires background checks when firearms are transferred between private citizens.
Earlier in the press conference, a police officer said he believed a rifle was involved in the shooting, although more details were not yet clear.
“My concern about the Indiana General Assembly is I believe they only have three or four days left. We’ll make it clear to our governor and to legislative leadership where I stand on these issues,” the Hogsett added.
Watch:
Indianapolis police officers found four of the shooting victims outside the FedEx facility Thursday and another four inside the building, officials said this morning at a news conference.
Eight people died in the shooting, and the suspect took his own life, police said.
Police earlier said the shooter started firing in the parking lot of the facility before entering the building.
Indianapolis police are yet to formally identify the suspect in Thursday’s shooting but “have an idea” as to who the person is.
Craig McCartt, deputy chief of investigations for Indianapolis police, said officers did have other leads on the shooter’s identity.
The FBI is assisting police officers with searching a suspect’s house, Paul Keenan, special agent in charge, said at a news conference Friday.
The shooter died of a self inflicted wound Thursday, after killing eight people during the incident.
