Mass Shooting at Indianapolis FedEx Facility Leaves 8 Dead

A mass shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis left eight employees dead and several others hospitalized in the latest incident of gun violence in the U.S.

According to the Associated Press, the gunman, who has yet to be identified or confirmed as a FedEx employee, took his own life shortly after the shooting started around 11 p.m. CST.

Police spokesperson Genae Cook told reporters that a total of five people had been injured, with one in critical condition. Two were treated on the scene and released. The identities of the victims also had not been released.

Levi Miller told WTHR-TV he was working in the facility when the shooting started.

"I'm at a bench and so I stand up and take a look at the entrance door and by the time I see the door, I see a man come out with a rifle in his hand and he starts firing and he starts yellin' stuff that I could not understand," he said.

Miller ducked behind a table to avoid the shooter’s attention.

"When you're in that situation, your instincts kick in," he said. "When you're in that moment in life, a lot of things start moving inside you from your mind and it all happens in a second. All for you to keep living."

Efforts to reunite employees with loved ones were complicated by a policy barring cell phones inside the facility. Mindy Carson told AP she hadn’t heard back from her daughter, who works at the facility.

“When you see notifications on your phone, but you’re not getting a text back from your kid and you’re not getting information and you still don’t know where they are … what are you supposed to do?” she said.

FedEx CEO Frederick Smith released a statement mourning the victims.

“This is a devastating day, and words are hard to describe the emotions we all feel. Please keep the Indianapolis team and surrounding community in your thoughts and prayers as we continue to support and care for each other in the difficult days ahead,” he wrote.

It’s the latest in a series of increasingly frequent mass shootings. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and its lockdowns caused a lull in mass gun violence, but 2021 has seen a return to form. Indianapolis alone has seen three mass shootings this year.

“It seems to me that, beyond the need of comfort for the grieving, we must guard against resignation or even despair. The assumption that this is simply how it must be and that we might as well get used to it,” said Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett. “We need the courage that compels courageous acts that push past weariness.”

Gov. Eric Holcomb ordered flags to be flown at half-staff for four days.

“In times like this, words like justice and sorrow fall short in response for those senselessly taken,” he said.

The return of mass gun violence to the national stage has prompted a renewed push for firearm regulation. Just a week earlier President Joe Biden called the issue an “epidemic” and a “national embarrassment.” He has introduced six executive actions to confront the problem.

"Enough prayers," he told Congress. "Time for some action."