Neighborhood on edge after shooting of teen

CARMEL, Ind. (WISH) - A Carmel neighborhood remains on edge after police said a masked man broke into a home and shot a 17-year old girl.

The shooting happened in the Clay Springs Subdivision, north of 116th and Spring Mill Road. Police took down the perimeter hours ago, but they still want neighbors to be on the lookout for the man.

The victim was home from school on Fall Break.

Although students in this neighborhood will head back to school Tuesday, one parent said this is a lesson for anyone when you are home alone, keep your alarm on.

Making sure the kids are little more aware of making sure they are locking the doors when they are at home; just keeping an eye out for unusual behavior," said Adam Mears of Carmel.

People who live in the Carmel neighborhood are on edge and for a good reason.

"It was a scary day," Mears said. "All of a sudden I see the sheriff car drive by and I'm like what the heck's going on, and then he drove by again and said get in the house," said Julie Johnson of Carmel.

Even the K-9 unit was called out. Investigators said a masked man broke inside the home and shot a 17 year-old girl.

"At the time of the incident he was wearing a grey sweatshirt, and blue jeans," said Carmel Police Officer D.J Schoeff .

Police said the victim was home from school on Fall Break.

Meanwhile, investigators are staying tight lipped about what else happened inside the home. How long the suspect was inside the home or if he took anything remains a mystery. We do know by the time officers arrived the suspect was already gone.

"I'm really not going to let one isolated incident put us into panic mode," Mears said. Mears drove his golf cart down to the scene with his sons and daughter in tow.

We talked to him about safety in his community; he said it's no different than any other Carmel neighborhood.
"It's frightening to know that there's something going on in your neighborhood and you don't have a lot of control of it," he said.

Mears said although the incident is scary, it's not going to stop him and his family from living in peace.  "I don't think one isolated event in the neighborhood is going to change the way that we behave; we're going to maybe think about it a little more and set our alarms a little more diligent during the day when we are going." he said.

Carmel Police said they plan step up patrols in the neighborhood. They said if you see someone suspicious, just call them at 571-2511

As for the victim, she’s in good condition at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis.