Indianapolis, IN
Walmart altercation led to Castleton Square Mall shooting, court records reveal
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Indianapolis police announced on Wednesday that they had re-arrested the 18-year-old man who was allegedly involved with the Dec. 23 shooting at Castleton Square Mall.
Police re-arrested the 18-year-old Tuesday after discovering that an altercation in a Walmart chip aisle a few months prior led to the shooting inside of the mall, according to court documents.
Police preliminarily charged the man with intimidation. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department also said officers arrested a 17-year-old for his alleged role in the shooting and preliminarily charged them with dangerous possession of a firearm.
IndyStar is not naming the two people because they have not been formally charged with the alleged crimes.
The interview that led to the teen’s arrest
Chaos broke out at Castleton Square after gunfire could be heard inside the mall’s hall late Dec. 23, prompting people to run outside.
After evacuating and closing the mall early, police learned that a person may have been hurt in the shooting.
Security footage captured an 18-year-old man chasing someone with his right hand on a handgun tucked in his pocket. He left the mall’s camera view, and when he returned in the footage a short time later, police said he was seen with a noticeable limp and looked down at his left leg.
At the time, it was unclear what had specifically led up to the shooting, but a new preliminary arrest affidavit has answered several of those questions.
On Jan. 1, police interviewed the man seen on mall security footage running away from the teens before the shooting on Dec. 23, according to court documents.
The man explained that while he was shopping with a friend and his sibling, he noticed the teens staring at him, which made him feel “uncomfortable.”
While the man was walking toward a clothing store, the teens attempted to get his attention and confronted him outside of the store, according to court documents.
The man told police that he recognized the 18-year-old from a confrontation that happened at a Walmart in Avon earlier in the year, after the two had bumped hands in the chip aisle.
The 18-year-old told the man that he had “been waiting to catch up with you,” according to a record of the interview.
The man believed that the 18-year-old was one of his dead brother’s former “enemies” and assumed that’s why he was threatening the man. The man’s brother was an artist but after his death, the man had adopted his brother’s artist moniker and began publishing music using it, he told police.
When police asked the 18-year-old what led to the shooting, he explained that the man was threatening to fight him because of an altercation at Walmart. When asked if he had filed a police report about the matter, he told police that he had not, according to court documents.
Before the situation escalated, the man told police he asked the 18-year-old, “Y’all tryin to do this here in the mall? They got cameras everywhere.”
That’s when the 18-year-old allegedly threatened the man with his gun, prompting the man to run away.
Security camera footage captured the teens chasing after the man. The 18-year-old could be seen with a handgun with an extended magazine protruding from his pocket before the teens and the man ran out of the camera’s view, according to court documents.
At some point during the chase, the man ran into something and fell to the ground. When he turned around he saw the 18-year-old pointing a gun at him. Believing that he was about to be shot, the man pulled out his 9mm handgun and fired at the 18-year-old three times, according to court documents.
The man escaped into a store, ultimately exiting the mall through a storage room.
The 18-year-old could then be seen on security footage leaving with a noticeable limp to his left leg, according to court documents.
Police later interviewed the 18-year-old about the shooting while he was receiving care for the gunshot wound at an area hospital.
The 18-year-old’s re-arrest
The 18-year-old was initially arrested and charged by police immediately after the shooting, but the teen was released from police custody on Dec. 27, 2024, after the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office decided not to file criminal charges against him.
At the time, the prosecutor’s office noted that it did not file charges against the teen, instead opting to allow police to finish their investigation and determine what led to the shooting.
After interviewing the man, police investigated the matter further and determined that the 17-year-old was an acquaintance of the 18-year-old based on photos they found of the teens together on social media.
On Jan. 7, police obtained a search warrant of the 18-year-old’s home, and inside his room found pieces of clothing and accessories that the two had been wearing on the day of the shooting. Police then arrested the two teens.
Contact IndyStar reporter Noe Padilla at npadilla@indystar.com or follow him on X @1NoePadilla.
Indianapolis, IN
Indianapolis Democrat Andrea Hunley to seek bid for mayor’s job in 2027
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — State Sen. Andrea Hunley, a Democrat representing Indianapolis, has announced her candidacy for a bid to run for mayor of Indianapolis in 2027.
Hunley, who had previously teased a mayoral run, has scheduled a launch event for May 8 as her official kickoff her campaign to lead the city, said her campaign website. The Assistant Minority Leader in the Senate announced in January that she would not seek another term in the Indiana Senate, to which she was elected in 2022.
Hunley’s website says, “Indianapolis is my city. Our city. As someone who knows this city, someone who has served this community as a public school teacher leading our children and supporting families, I am committed to the future of the people of Indianapolis.
“Indianapolis is the economic driver and a key cultural hub for our state. Our city boasts creative entrepreneurs and long-standing local businesses, vibrant neighborhoods and corporate headquarters, community-centered nonprofits and public schools. I aim to champion a better quality of life by listening to and working alongside the people, businesses and neighborhoods that make up our great city.”
Mayor Joe Hogsett has not disclosed if he’s seeking a fourth four-year term.
City-County Council Member Vop Osili in January announced his campaign for the Democratic nomination.
In the same month, Pike Township Trustee Annette Johnson announced her intention to seek the Democratic nomination to run for mayor. She’s running this year to continue in the trustee’s job, which she has held since 2019.
Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears, who had been mentioned as a possible Democratic candidate for mayor, announced in January he would seek another four-year term this year for his current job. However, he did not rule out running for the Democratic bid for mayor in 2027.
Indianapolis, IN
Louisville native set to make debut in Indianapolis 500
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – While Louisville is famous for one race in May, a Derby City native is set to make his first appearance in a different iconic May race.
Jacob Abel will be making his first appearance in the Indianapolis 500 on May 24, racing for Abel Motorsports, founded by his father, Bill Abel.
“I am excited and grateful to be able to return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to have a shot at the Indianapolis 500. It’s been a lifelong dream to compete in that race and to have the opportunity to do it with Abel Motorsports and Chevrolet makes it even more special,” Jacob said.
Both Abels, the driver and the team, had breakout years in 2024 with three pole positions and three wins in the INDY NXT drivers’ championship, propelling the 25-year-old driver to the NTT INDYCAR Series the following year.
Practice for the 110th Indianapolis 500 begins on Tuesday, May 12 with qualifying being held on May 16 and May 17. The race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway goes green on May 24, coverage begins at 10 a.m.
Copyright 2026 WAVE. All rights reserved.
Indianapolis, IN
IMPD: Man stabbed in downtown Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS — A person was stabbed in downtown Indianapolis Sunday evening.
According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, officers were called to the intersection of East Market and North Delaware Streets around 8:28 p.m. to investigate a stabbing. When police arrived at the scene, they located an adult male victim with apparent stab wounds.
IMPD has confirmed that the victim was transported from the scene to a local hospital in critical but stable condition.
Investigators believe the stabbing “stemmed from a disturbance between multiple individuals and the victim.”
IMPD has reported that it has not identified or detained any suspects or persons of interest at this point in its investigation of the stabbing. Police have indicated that they are hoping witnesses come forward with information that can help them identify or locate the suspects.
“The officers now are doing a complete investigation,” IMPD Lieutenant Frank Wooten said during a media briefing Sunday night. “They’re going to investigate this to the best of their ability. We’re going to try to locate our suspect, arrest the suspect, prosecute the suspect and hold that suspect accountable for this heinous crime in Indianapolis. This is not an indication of what our city is about. This is not an indication of what we do downtown, and we hold this to be very serious. So, we will hold whoever did this responsible for their actions tonight.”
Sunday night’s stabbing represented a continuation of a violent weekend in downtown Indianapolis.
Early Sunday morning, two men were critically injured in a shooting near a White Castle on South Street. Before that shooting occurred, police arrested two juveniles on gun charges at Monument Circle.
Police also conducted a shooting investigation near the Hilton hotel located at 120 W. Market St. around 4 a.m. Sunday. Nobody was injured in that shooting.
Elsewhere in the city, a person was injured in a shooting in a CVS parking lot on Kentucky Avenue Saturday evening. Another individual was killed in a shooting outside a residence in the 2300 block of South Pennsylvania Street Saturday night.
Public police reporting systems indicate IMPD has investigated nine shootings that caused injuries since midnight Saturday. During that same timeframe, IMPD has investigated six shootings that did not result in any injuries and five stabbings.
Numbers available on shootings and stabbings in IMPD’s public reporting system may not be complete, as some reports on weekend shootings and stabbings may not have been entered yet.
“This is not what we want Indianapolis to be,” Wooten said. “This is not what we expect out of the citizens of Indianapolis. We expect them to be safe, come downtown and have a good time, and be able to go home the same way they came down here. So, we will hold these suspects, once located, accountable for this crime.”
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