From The Republic’s newsgathering partners at WISH-TV in Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department says three people died in shootings overnight as a peaceful protest Saturday afternoon dissolves into chaos overnight.
Two people were shot and killed in separate shootings downtown and another person died in a shooting in the area of 38th Street and Orchard Avenue. Police have not released suspect information or what led to the shootings.
ORIGINAL STORY:
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Protests that began Saturday afternoon in downtown Indianapolis with hours of marching and chants of “Black Lives Matter” escalated as crowds broke glass and set fires, police deployed pepper balls, and by midnight, at least two people had been shot, one fatally.
The second day of protests of the death of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police began around 4 p.m. at Monument Circle. Indianapolis protesters also named Dreasjon Reed in their calls for justice from the Indiana War Memorial.
According to police, some time before 9 p.m., crowds broke windows of government buildings and threw items at officers. That’s when pepper balls were deployed, and crowds began an hours-long clash with police.
Earlier Saturday afternoon, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and Police Chief Randal Taylor held a press conference following a night of unrest as protests turned violent overnight. Taylor announced 27 arrests were made overnight after protesters failed to get out of the road. Police say three police officers and three protesters were also injured. Thirty businesses and five IMPD cars were also damaged.
Community and faith leaders also met at the Indiana Statehouse, denouncing rioting and looting in the the city. Many of those leaders expressed their own pain over Floyd’s death, encouraged people to continue to protest but do so peacefully, and said they were concerned that some of the people damaging property were infiltrating the protests.
