INDIANAPOLIS — One person died and another is in serious but stable condition after the pair was involved a gunfight near a busy shopping area on the north side of Indianapolis Tuesday night.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said the two men were shot in Nora near Target, Whole Foods and Wendy's around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Police believe both men were in a vehicle headed east on 86th Street when they got in an altercation in the vehicle and both men were shot. Police are unsure if more than one gun was used.
Kristin Craig, who was planning to do some shopping, ended up parking right near where things were happening.
"I got out of the car and I heard 'pop, pop, pop, pop,'" Craig said.
When police arrived, they found a man who had been shot and in critical condition. He was taken to a local hospital where he later died. The coroner identified him as 24-year-old Tavon Bickham.
The vehicle, which had its windows shot out during the altercation, continued into the shopping plaza and stopped.
Police were later called to St, Vincent Hospital for a person who had been shot and was in serious but stable condition. That person is believed to be connected to the shooting on the north side.
Police were on the scene roping off a large part of the parking lot where there were shell casings. Some of the vehicles parked outside of Whole Foods were in the roped-off area and they were being asked not to move their cars.
Rick Habig's family owns the garden shop at the corner across from Nora Plaza, a great location for over 30 years.
"We work outside right next to the street and you know it happened 100 yards away from us," Habig said. "Far too close. You don't want it to happen to anybody. But when it starts happening a football field away... I don't know what's making everybody so angry."
This is the third shooting near local shopping centers in just a few days. On Sunday afternoon, two people were shot in the parking lot at Lafayette Square Mall. On Friday night, a man in his 20s was shot inside Castleton Square Mall. Police took one person into custody for the shooting at Lafayette Square.
Anyone with information about this latest shooting is asked to call the IMPD Homicide Office at 317-327-3475 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477.