2 separate incidents hours apart unnerve some downtown Canal residents

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Between sunset Sunday and dawn Monday, two incidents of violence around the downtown canal left some living in the area feeling uneasy.

Andrea Reinhart lives along the canal. “I just normally stay inside, lock my doors at night, yeah,” she said while on a daytime run.

But does she feel safe on the canal after dark? “I’m going to say not at night necessarily. I wouldn’t come down here at night.”

Just after 10 p.m. Sunday, a report of “shots fired” brought Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers to the area of West New York Street.

Though the police report said no evidence indicates shots were fired, damage was done to a sliding glass door, according to a police report.

Around 2:15 a.m. Monday, officers were at West New York Street, a few hundred yards away from the earlier shots fired and on the other side of the canal. That incident was an armed carjacking, according to a police report.

Reinhart got an alert on her phone about both incidents. “I was a little bit scared. I mean, I know things happen in any city like this, but, it’s just kind of what happens.”

Alberto Luz said he feels safe on the canal, but added, “If I were to come out at night, I would carry something, like a knife on me, something like that, at least something to defend myself with.”

Last week, the city announced plans for more patrol officers to be Downtown alongside civilian ambassadors, who serve as extra eyes and ears for IMPD. Plus, the city plans to spend thousands of dollars to install more than 150 street-level cameras to watch the downtown area 24 hours a day in real time. Those are plans Reinhart likes to hear.

“They make me feel a little bit safer. The cameras, definitely. I’ve seen police walk by a lot outside my front door.”

IMPD’s Downtown Command Staff did not respond by Monday aftternoon to a request for comment.