Neighbors cite gunshots, trash among issues where 4-year-old was shot

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department was investigating after someone shot a 4-year-old in a possible drive-by shooting Thursday on the southeast side. 

It happened near the intersection of South Rural and East Minnesota streets, a few block northeast of South Keystone Avenue and East Raymond Street. It’s near Bethel Park and Harriet Beecher Stowe School 64. 

Police said medics took the girl to Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health in good condition after she was a shot in the foot. The girl’s mother said she did not want to talk to reporters. 

Hope Ray, who lives in the area, said she heard the gunshots around 2:30 a.m. and went to check on her own kids. 

“I went in and checked to make sure they were all right and everything was cool, so I just laid back down,” Ray said. “I mean, it’s normal. It’s just one of those things.” 

Ray said she hears gunshots in the neighborhood every week.

Thursday morning, police said, someone fired into a home and shot the four-year-old as she watched TV. Officers were investigating whether it was a drive-by. 

“If I had small kids, I’d be freaking out, I’m sure,” Ray said. 

Kris Kasper, who also was in the area overnight, said he is fed up with not just the violence but also the trash scattered in the neighborhood. 

A man in the community’s leasing office said he did not want to comment when a News 8 reporter introduced himself. 

“There’s just too much going on,” Kasper said. “Kids don’t need to be around that type of violence.”

Police said no one else was hurt in the shooting. They have not named any suspects. 

“I don’t want to make it sound bad, but it’s normal,” Ray said. “We’re used to living on the south side.”

Anyone with information on the case can call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477.