ANDERSON, Ind. — Six people between the ages of 14 and 21 were injured when shots were fired in a large gathering early Sunday morning in an area of Anderson that has seen trouble before.
Police said that shortly before 2:30 a.m., a large crowd had gathered in the area of 16th Street and Madison Avenue when an altercation broke out, and several gunshots were fired.
Officers who had been monitoring the gathering quickly pushed into the crowd and located a victim who had been shot in the leg. Officers applied a tourniquet before the victim was taken to an Indianapolis hospital. They were in stable condition Sunday afternoon.
Investigators learned that five other victims checked themselves into Anderson hospitals for treatment of minor gunshot wounds. They were all treated and released, according to an Anderson Police Department update.
The victims include three females, ages 21, 19 and 17, according to police, and three males, ages 21, 17 and 14. Police are not providing more identifications at this time.
The owner of a local club said she saw a large group of people gathered in a grassy area before gunfire rang out. It was a normal weekend night inside Sonny Ray's bar on Madison Avenue, but owner Bobbie Taylor said outside, a large group of people had a party of their own in a parking lot that overflowed across the street.
"They're finding a place to gather and just hang out and drink and whatever they do," she said.
That gathering ended violently when someone started shooting.
"It sounded like a war. It was a lot of gunshots," Taylor said. "It's sad when you have grown people that are scared and they fear now."
This isn't the first time gun violence erupted near Taylor's club. In August 2020, three people were shot one block away from Sunday's shooting on Madison Avenue. Last June, five people were shot at the same location and 24-year-old Landon Hill was killed during a Juneteenth gathering, prompting anti-violence protests in the city.
And even though the shootings are not connected to her club, Taylor said she and her customers are paying the price.
"It puts a black eye on my business. I mostly cater to the more mature crowd. It's to the point where they are even scared to come down to the club," Taylor said.
In response to the violence, the Madison County Hand-up Initiative and other community leaders gathered Sunday to show support and find solutions.
"These families lives are changed forever. At this point, this business owner is terrified to open her doors. We really just want to see the community come together and start shutting this down before it gets out of hand," said Jason Fullington, founder of Madison County Hand-up Initiative.
"We got to all get together and try and stop this. If not, there's going to be a lot of mothers out here burying kids, and it's sad," Taylor said.
On Monday, police told our partners at the Herald-Bulletin they have identified persons of interest in the shooting that they are working to locate for questioning. So far, no arrests have been made in the case.
If you have information, you're asked to contact Det. Brett Webb at 765-648-6731 or leave anonymous tips with Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-TIPS (8477).