INDIANAPOLIS — Less than a week after eight workers were shot and killed by a former employee, the FedEx Ground facility at Ameriplex just west of the Indianapolis International Airport is back in the delivery business. Workers reported for their first shifts Wednesday since the mass shooting on the night of April 15.
A large number of employees lined up to pass through security in their vehicles as they reported for a shift that started at noon Wednesday.
Workers went through two checkpoints before entering the parking lot, greeted first by a police officer working as a security guard. Then a second stop appeared to be FedEx personnel checking names on ID badges.
This system was obviously not in place when a 19-year-old former employee showed up with two assault rifles during a shift change just after 11:00 p.m. last Thursday night. He shot and killed four people in the parking lot and four more inside the building before killing himself.
13 News is told about 90 percent of the workers at the facility are from the Sikh community. Four of the eight people killed were Sikhs. About 50 of the roughly 200 employees are members of the Indy West Sikh Temple.
"Might be a few people will quit from there and they will just leave and stay home,” said Avtar Singh Bassi, a leader in the Indy West Sikh Temple.
He said many people in the Sikh community are nervous and scared after what happened to their people, such as Jaswinder Singh, of Greenwood.
“Like the 68-year-old man, he started working there only two weeks ago,” said Avtar Singh Bassi. “He doesn't have to work. But he was bored sitting at home. He said, 'Let me go to work.' And he was standing in the line just to pick up his check while he was shot. That's sad. That's not the way to go."
Trucks are coming and going again, indicating FedEx Ground is getting back to the delivery business. But employees surely have heavy hearts as they go back to work while funerals for co-workers are still being planned and others are recovering in the hospital.
FedEx workers return to work for first time since mass shooting
13 News reached out to several FedEx workers Wednesday. None were ready or willing to grant an interview. One employee told us her supervisor advised her not to speak to the media. FedEx did not reply Wednesday to a request for an update on the status of the facility and the workforce.
