Deadly shooting marks 100th homicide of 2024 in Indy

INDIANAPOLIS — A deadly shooting on the near south side of Indianapolis marks a deadly milestone.

Less than halfway through the year, the city has now reached 100 total homicides.

Answering a knock at the back door of a home in the 2200 block of south Meridian around 7 o’clock Thursday morning, witnesses claim a man inside the home told someone outside to go away.

That request was quickly met with gunfire.

The shooter fled while the 30-year-old victim died on scene. That death bought the total number of homicides in 2024 in Indianapolis to 100 and counting.

“A hundred homicides is a hundred too many. Any loss of life we take seriously. That’s a hundred families that are missing loved ones and dealing with the aftermath,” said IMPD Sgt. Anthony Patterson.

While they sympathize with every victim, IMPD insists total violent crime is down by double digits compared to last year.

IMPD reports aggravated assaults are down 34 percent year to year. Robbery cases are down 19%. Criminal homicides are down 17%. Total violent crime has fallen by 28% compared to 2023.

“We have noticed a steady decrease in our numbers. Violent crimes, homicides and non-fatal shootings are all down, but there’s a lot of work to be done,” said Patterson.

The numbers show,100 homicides on this same date is lower than the last four years, although the figure is still significantly higher compared the years prior to the pandemic.

By comparison there were 113 homicides on the same date in 2023,107 in 2022, 119 in 2021,106 in 2020, 72 in 2019 and 76 in 2018.

“We’ve got to continue to do better. We have a ton of work to do across the board,” said reverend David Greene with the concerned clergy.

Greene said homicides can’t be prevented by IMPD alone because issues like poverty, housing instability and easy access to illegal firearms, which drives a lot of violence.

“We still need innovative programs we need to support and ultimately we have to address the core issues. If we don’t do that, things won’t change,” said Greene.

IMPD points out more than 20 of this year’s homicides have been deemed non-criminal. Those include officer involved shootings, cases of self-defense and other killings that can be justified under the law.

Anyone with information about the Meridian shooting should call IMPD Detective Christopher Edwards at the IMPD Homicide Office at 317.327.3475 or e-mail the detective at Christopher.Edwards@indy.gov. 

Alternatively, they can call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317.262.8477 or (TIPS) to remain anonymous.