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 — Many Hoosiers rely on IndyGo buses to get to different points around the Indianapolis Metropolitan area.

Thanks to funding from a new grant, the bus system will potentially connect people in the town of Cumberland over to the Indianapolis International Airport.

Justin Bruno has been using IndyGo his whole adult life.

“They support us out here,” Bruno said.

He works part-time as a bellman for a hotel downtown.

The bus helps him in a pinch.

“I do have transportation but things happen. So IndyGo is a blessing,” he said.

IndyGo announced Tuesday that it received a $150 million federal capital grant for the construction of the upcoming Blue Line Bus Rapid Transit route.

The awarded funding comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Small Starts Capital Investment Grant.

The FTA’s Capital Investment Grant contribution represents nearly 40 percent of the Blue Line’s estimated project budget.

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“The Blue Line is going to be the longest of the BRT routes. It’s going to run through the heart of the city, the busiest corridor. 28 million visitors, within 150,000 jobs,” IndyGo spokesperson Carrie Black said.

The Blue Line will run 24 miles east to west along I-70, Holt Road and Washington Street.

Black says residents can expect some construction in the coming months.

“A big part of bus rapid transit is dedicated bus lanes. What that does is it allows buses to travel independently of car traffic, and likewise it allows cars to travel independently of the buses and not have to deal with the stops and starts of buses,” she said.

But those dedicated bus lanes are causing a bit of controversy for the people living and working along the streets it will affect.

“Revenue. They’re afraid of the revenue loss. They don’t have corporations to back them,” Jason Hunt said.

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Hunt works at a tavern and sports bar on E. Washington Street in Irvington.

He says there are both positives and negatives to the Blue Line.

“There are a lot of independent restaurants and shop owners within here. So you’re doing to remove the 10 to 15 places out front, you’re going to go down to one lane. You’re going to have increased congestion,” he said.

But on the other hand, he says reliable public transportation is necessary.

“It definitely reduces their stress and their anxiety, I believe, of getting to a doctor’s appointment, getting to work. Maybe they can’t accept a position because of the infrequency of the rides,” Hunt said. “These are growing pains. I think that the pros outweigh the cons.”

Construction on the Blue Line is expected to begin early this year, with the route set to open for service in late 2028.

IndyGo will be hosting open houses in February all along the Washington Street corridor to share the details on construction, closures and detours.

They’ll be sharing the dates, times and locations of those meetings in the next week.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A local artist has brought a burst of color and culture to the streets of Indianapolis.

A newly painted traffic signal box at U.S. 31 and Edgewood Avenue has turned heads while celebrating Burmese heritage. Designer and painter Yan Yan poured 105 hours into the artwork “Our Enlightenment.” He finished the project in November.

“It showcases different motifs of the Burmese community, especially Indianapolis in the way of cultural practices in Indianapolis,” Yan said.

The Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center supported the artwork as part of its cultural art initiative called the Southdale Traffic Signal Public Art Heritage Project, which features a variety of traffic signal boxes.

“From dances to wresting and also other symbols and instruments as well as cultural motifs like traditional attire,” Yan said.

Each side of the box tells a story and highlights Burmese culture. “The location was actually given to me by the Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center, but the location is where the majority of the Burmese population and residents are at.”

Indianapolis has one of the largest Burmese populations in the country, with many in Perry Township on the city’s south side.

Yan says he wants to bring the stories of Burmese refugees to life. He came to Indianapolis as a refugee in 2012. “Now I’m working at a refugee resettlement agency called Exodus Immigration.”

Yan also is selling stickers that celebrate a piece of Burmese cultural artistry. Half of the proceeds will go towards helping Burmese refugees. They’re available at Top Point Royal Cafe, a new Burmese coffee shop on the south side of Indianapolis.