Waffle House Shooting Sees Multiple People Gunned Down in Indiana

One person has died and five others were injured in a shooting at a Waffle House in Indiana on Monday.

Officers were called to the restaurant in the 2600 block of South Lynhurst Drive in Indianapolis after receiving a report of a person having been shot at around 12:40 a.m, a spokesperson for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department told Newsweek via email.

On arrival, they found five people—three men and two women—with injuries consistent with gunshot wounds.

One woman who was transported to the hospital in critical condition later died, the police spokesperson said. The Marion County Coroner's Office will release the woman's name after her family have been notified.

The four others are in stable condition, the spokesperson said. Officers were also informed that another man arrived at Methodist Hospital with injuries consistent with gunshot wounds. He was in critical condition.

Homicide detectives responded to the scene to begin investigating.

"Multiple victims remained at the scene and are cooperating with the investigation," the police spokesperson said. "Preliminarily, detectives believe this incident started with a disturbance between two groups that escalated to gunfire. It is not clear at this point if any of the people injured were also individuals who fired shots."

Detectives are also working to review any video surveillance footage that may be available.

Anyone with information should contact Detective Douglas Morning at the IMPD Homicide Office at 317-327-3475 or by email at douglas.morning@indy.gov. They can also contact Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317.262.8477 or (TIPS) to remain anonymous.

The shooting comes amid renewed calls for stricter gun laws after a mass shooting marred a parade to celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl win in Kansas City last week. A woman was killed and 22 people were injured in the shooting on Wednesday, which was the sixth anniversary of the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in which 14 students and three staff members were killed.

And on Sunday, a man armed with multiple guns and large amounts of ammunition shot at police officers from inside a home in Burnsville, Minnesota, on Sunday. Two officers and a firefighter who was providing medical aid to one of the wounded were killed. A third officer was wounded in the shooting, and the suspect also died.

Gun violence continues to claim lives at a high rate in the United States. At least 2,156 people have been killed in homicides or accidental shootings so far in 2024, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

President Joe Biden noted on Wednesday that there had been more mass shootings in 2024 "than there have been days in the year."

For the joy of the parade to be turned into tragedy "cuts deep in the American soul," the president said in a statement after the parade shooting.

He called on people to press Congress to ban assault weapons, to limit high-capacity gun magazines, strengthen background checks and "keep guns out of the hands of those who have no business owning them or handling them."

He added that the shooting "should move us, shock us, shame us into acting. What are we waiting for?" "What else do we need to see? How many more families need to be torn apart? It is time to act," he said.

Update 2/19/24, 3 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.

Update 2/19/24, 7:05 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.