AILSA CHANG, HOST:
It's only April, and already the city of Indianapolis has seen three mass shootings this year. The latest has resulted in nine deaths, including the shooter's. It happened at a FedEx facility near the Indianapolis Airport shortly before midnight yesterday. Today police have identified the gunman, and joining us now with more is reporter Jill Sheridan from member station WFYI. Welcome.
JILL SHERIDAN, BYLINE: Thank you, Ailsa.
CHANG: So I understand the shooter is a former employee of FedEx.
SHERIDAN: That's correct. Police say 19-year-old Brandon Hole has been identified as the shooter now. He was a FedEx employee as recently as last year but was not working there now. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Deputy Chief Craig McCartt says detectives working with the FBI have now searched Hole's home and have issued other warrants.
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CRAIG MCCARTT: So now the work really begins trying to establish some of that and see if we can figure out some sort of motive in this. But we don't have that right now.
SHERIDAN: So Hole has had contact with local law enforcement officials, who seized an illegal gun from him last year. It was last night that Hole, carrying a rifle, began shooting randomly outside the FedEx facility, where four people were killed in the parking lot. He then entered the building, where police say he randomly shot and killed another four people before turning the gun on himself.
CHANG: What is the status of the investigation at this point?
SHERIDAN: Well, police are still processing the scene at the FedEx facility there. It's a smaller ground distribution center. Indianapolis' FedEx hub is the second largest in the country. The process of identifying all of the victims is not yet complete, either. Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett says after the tragedy, after a tragedy like this comes grief.
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JOE HOGSETT: Grief for the many Americans struggling to understand how tragedies like this continue to occur again and again, the assumption that this is simply how it must be and that we might as well get used to it. We need the courage that compels courageous acts that push past weariness.
SHERIDAN: As you mentioned, this is the third mass shooting event in Indianapolis this year, the other two at homes. This also appears to be the city's largest workplace shooting to date.
CHANG: Well, what do we know about the victims so far?
SHERIDAN: Well, we know there were a hundred employees in the building - about 100 - when the shooting started last night. It was during a shift change, so employees were in the parking lot, may have been going on a dinner break. This morning, I went to the hotel where family members were still showing up to receive word about their loved ones with that process. And overnight, it was difficult for some family and friends to connect with the FedEx workers because the company has a no cellphone policy. Police are saying, you know, with the scale of this investigation so large, they might not have the names of all those victims until this weekend.
CHANG: That is Jill Sheridan from member station WFYI in Indianapolis. Thank you.
SHERIDAN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
