Fans turn out for IBE concert, but some say they'll stay away from final day of festivities

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Music fans gathered Friday night at American Legion Mall for a free concert, part of the annual Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration. A shadow of worry hung over the fun, though, after the shooting at last year’s events.

Nikisha Weaver said she’s attended the shows for several years and never had a problem. So, she said, she didn’t expect one this weekend, either. But gunfire at Expo last year makes some people wonder what to expect for the final weekend of this year’s celebration.

Jazmine Morris, 18, was caught in the Saturday night incident last summer.

“It was very dangerous,” she said. “I got nervous at some times, like, I was calling my mother like every hour to come get me.”

She said she remembers hearing people screaming and crying. So, she understands why the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department will have a bigger presence on the street  this weekend. She won’t be in town, though. She said she had decided to visit an amusement park in Cincinnati instead.

Weaver said she’s confident the police will “do their job.” But she contends parents must take responsibility for the behavior of their children. She said parents of teenagers shouldn’t “let them come down here by themselves.” She believes “they need supervision, sometimes.”

Ora Coleman came downtown early to find a good seat to hear Bobby Brown Friday night.

“I just love him to death,” she said.

Coleman, like Weaver, doesn’t expect police to do it all.

“If I were mayor of the city, I would definitely say, ‘We need more. We need more parent supervision.’ I would definitely try to reach out to the adults here,” she said.

The real mayor - Greg Ballard - said police planners have been preparing “very hard” for months to be ready for this weekend.

“We have a good number of cops coming down, like we always do,” he said. “We have about double or triple the number of volunteers coming down with the faith-based community – which is very important to us. The police will not just be on the corners. They’ll be walking throughout.”

It comes down to one night now, Saturday night, since Ballard said most of the 10-day event goes smoothly.

“And it’s one or two knuckleheads, sometimes, that makes [trouble] happen,” Ballard said. “That ruins it for everybody. That’s what we don’t want to happen.”