Indianapolis, IN
Program celebrates success in combating delinquency, youth violence
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Gang Resistance Education and Training program’s graduation ceremony on Monday celebrated achievements in helping shape a brighter future for Indiana youth.
Maj. Corey Mims of Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department’s Community Engagement and Outreach Bureau said, “We are celebrating 80-plus kids graduating from the GREAT program, the Gang Resistance Education and Training program. These students have spent the last 13 weeks working on a curriculum to learning resiliency, making the right choices, and being better citizens, both in the community and their schools as well.”
The Edison School of The Arts hosted the graduation ceremony. The voluntary program was designed to combat delinquency and youth violence.
John Nokes, an assistant special agent in charge for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said “It’s essential to engage them now at such a vulnerable age. They have a lot of hard decisions they’re already making, and it’s only going to get more complicated from here. We’re going to try to give them the tools they need to make good decisions.”
The GREAT program was designed to teach children vital life skills and conflict resolution, empowering them to reject gangs and become strong and educated community leaders.
Mims talked about what the students learn. “Decision making. I think decision-making is critical. Anger management and conflict resolution. We see time and time again in our city where conflict is the source of some violence we come across.”
Chanel Garcia is a graduate of the program. She says she feels more comfortable now in relationships with police officers and her classmates. “After this, I see them as people that are just trying to help the community and just do their jobs.”
The GREAT program hopes to grow even stronger ties with schools, parents, and other community organizations. Nokes said, “We’re doing this twice this year in Indianapolis. That’s not enough. We want to do it more, but that’s tied to funding, and it’s tied to other school districts in our field division across Indiana and Ohio. But we’re squeezing every dollar and reaching every kid we can.”
Indianapolis police shoot homicide suspect on South Harding Street
Indianapolis police shot a homicide suspect after a pursuit ended near I-70 on May 28, 2026. The suspect is in stable condition.
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Indianapolis police shot a homicide suspect after a vehicle pursuit that ended west of downtown near Interstate 70.
Just before 8:30 p.m. May 28, 2026 Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were dispatched to a shooting in the first block of North Rural Street. Arriving officers found Patricia Wieber, 65, with gunshot wounds. Wieber was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital.
Witnesses were able to give police information about the shooter and officers tracked the suspect to the 7500 block of Bullock Court on the city’s south side. The suspect, identified by police as Ronald Cross, 75, got into a different vehicle with another man. While tracking that vehicle officers attempted a traffic stop near West Southport and Bluff roads. The driver, who is not implicated in the homicide, got out of the vehicle without incident and was taken into custody.
Police said Cross then slid into the vehicle’s driver seat and fled. Officers used stop sticks and then in the 1000 block of South Harding Street near I-70 a SWAT officer used a vehicle to perform a PIT maneuver to stop the SUV, said Kendale Adams, IMPD deputy chief of criminal investigations.
After the vehicle was stopped officers shot the suspect, Adams said. Cross was taken to the hospital in stable condition. No officers were injured.
Adams said two firearms were located at the scene.
During a news conference at the scene, Indianapolis police chief Tanya Terry extended her thoughts to the family of Wieber who was killed in what police believe was a domestic violence situation. She also praised her officers’ handling of the situation.
“[Our officers] did exactly what our community expects them do to in situations like this,” Terry said. “Our officers worked with bravery, coordination and precision in their attempts to safely bring the suspect into custody. I’m extremely proud of them for the work that they’ve done.”
The chief added that Cross would be facing charges in the case and police confirmed hours later that Cross was arrested on a murder charge.
The shooting involving police was among a string of shootings across the city, including one downtown roughly two hours before that left a man in critical condition.
“It’s been a difficult night for our city,” Terry said.
The officers involved in shooting Cross have been placed on administrative leave, per department policy. The Civilian Use of Force Review Board will have a hearing on the shooting and body and dash cameras were activated during the shooting, Adams said.
It is unclear whether Cross fired at officers and what makes and models of firearms were found by police.
Asked those questions by IndyStar, an unnamed IMPD spokesperson did not provide additional information and instead referred to a press release that did not contain the answers.
This is the fourth shooting involving Indianapolis police since the start of the year.
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Get more information of shootings involving Indianapolis police here.
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José Plasencia brings Cuban cuisine to Fountain Square’s Inferno Room
Cuban food never got the opportunity to evolve. Now at the Inferno Room, José Plasencia is giving his homeland cuisine a second chance.
A standout burger can come from unexpected places, as evidenced by one Indianapolis restaurant whose unconventional take on the American classic has earned it a spot on a national USA Today list.
There’s only one burger on the menu at the recently reimagined Inferno Room in Fountain Square, but it’s a good one.
Chef José Plasencia’s rendition of the Cuban frita, a beef-chorizo burger defined by a topping of fried shoestring potatoes, joined heavy hitters from across the country on USA TODAY’s pantheon of patties.
The USA Today list included places like Mr. Bartley’s Burgers, a veritable institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts as well as Jay’s Burgers in Louisville and Sacred Beast in Cincinnati.
Indianapolis’ best-known burger spot, the more than century-old Workingman’s Friend, did not make the national list but appeared alongside the Inferno Room on USA TODAY’s roundup of exemplary Midwest burgers. Both were featured on IndyStar’s list of 10 burgers to try around town.
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