Gunfight on 86th Street shocks Nora neighbors
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A gunbattle Tuesday night on 86th Street shocked longtime neighbors in Nora.
Police are still trying to figure out exactly what happened as shots were fired in and around at least two cars.
Two witnesses who did not want to go on camera spoke to News 8. They heard the gunfire exchange.
One man said he heard four shots, then perhaps four more shots more a minute or two later. An employee at a nearby business said the blasts shook the glass at the store.
Tony Kantzavelos, owner of the Nora Apothecary, is glad he just missed it. “I was shocked. I didn’t expect to see something like that right besides our pharmacy.”
No more than 30 minutes after he had cleaned up and locked up Tuesday evening, police said there was a gunfight in a car. Officers believe several shots were fired outside on 86th Street.
A passenger named Tavon Bickham, 24, was hit and jumped out. He later died at a hospital.
The car then went into the Nora Plaza, where more shots were fired and the driver was injured.
“I was frightened when I got home and saw what happened,” Kantzavelos said. “I said, ‘Oh, my gosh, I was there.’ I was minutes away from what happened and what could have happened.”
While many stores in the area were closed when the shooting happened around 7:30 p.m., with several hours still of daylight left, the gunfire shocked Kantzavelos and others who have lived or worked in the Nora neighborhood for years.
“It is a safe area,” he said. “Yes, I truly believe Nora is a safe area.”
As police try to unravel what happened, they’re hopeful that surveillance cameras in the area can help. They’re also thankful that, with several big stores in the area and customers in the parking lot, no one else was hit.
“There’s innocent people walking around,” Maj. Kerry Buckner of Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said Tuesday night. “If they had something going on between them, a disagreement, that’s fine. We can’t control that. But an innocent person walking into Whole Foods or Target catching a bullet, that’s terrible.”
Kantzavelos warned his staff Wednesday morning to keep their guard up. He also had a few calls from customers who just wanted to check in to make sure everyone at the pharmacy was OK.
As for any longtime impact, he’s not too worried.
“Time will tell really,” Kantzavelos said. “I hope that what happened doesn’t happen again. I do believe Nora is a safe community.”
At last check, the driver who was shot was in serious condition but stable.
IMPD did not provide any updates on the case Wednesday. They had reported Tuesday they were speaking to a person of interest but did not elaborate.
