One killed, five injured in shooting outside south side club

John Tuohy, Indianapolis Star
Updated ·3 min read
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A pick-up truck is towed from a mall at 5900 Madison Ave. on the south side of Indianapolis following a mass shooting that left one person dead and five injured outside GZ Restaurant and Karaoke.
A pick-up truck is towed from a mall at 5900 Madison Ave. on the south side of Indianapolis following a mass shooting that left one person dead and five injured outside GZ Restaurant and Karaoke.

Update: Indianapolis police on Monday, Nov. 6 said another person injured in the club shooting was located at a nearby hospital, marking the sixth victim in the case. The deceased was identified Nov. 6 as 23-year-old Samuel Ling.

Michael Swan was startled by the sound of relentless gunfire near the shopping mall next to his south-side apartment early Saturday.

“There were 40 or 50 shots in quick succession, no breaks in between," Swan, 45, said. “I thought at first the fireworks shop caught on fire.”

Swan called 911 at 1:21 a.m., one of several emergency calls the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department received for a mass shooting at 5905 Madison Ave.

When officers arrived minutes later they found one male dead and four people injured, two of them critically. Police said an argument inside GZ Restaurant & Karaoke appeared to have spilled outside when the shooting started in the parking lot.

“I saw a person who appeared to be dead lying next to a black pick-up truck and another person injured leaning against it,” said Swan, who went to the mall after calling it in. “Then I saw a sports car zooming away and another following it before the second car peeled off.”

A pick-up truck is towed from a mall at 5900 Madison Ave. on the south side of Indianapolis following a mass shooting that left one person dead and four injured outside GZ Restaurant and Karaoke.
A pick-up truck is towed from a mall at 5900 Madison Ave. on the south side of Indianapolis following a mass shooting that left one person dead and four injured outside GZ Restaurant and Karaoke.

Police said they found several guns at the scene and businesses in the strip mall suffered damage from gunfire. In addition, “multiple” witnesses were questioned and cooperating with investigators, according to an IMPD news release.

The name or age of the person killed was not immediately released. Police said they could not determine whether the victim was an adult or a juvenile.

The other victims were:

  • A 23-year-old woman in critical condition

  • A 25-year-old man in critical condition

  • A 29-year-old man whose condition was not released but described as stable by police

  • A 25-year-old man, condition unknown, but stable

The club is in a large mall anchored by a Kroger and is nestled between a dentist’s office and a vape shop.

More than half the mall parking lot was cordoned off with yellow police tape at 10 a.m. as a handful of police cars stood sentry on the perimeter and a tow truck drove off with a bullet-riddled black pick-up truck latched to it.

Small numbered yellow placards marked spots where spent bullet casings were found. In one parking spot, at least 20 placards were clustered. The cards also lay in front of a Great Clips and Lynn’s Fireworks shop.

Swan said the mall and his apartment complex are usually quiet, though the activity at the bar can get rowdy at times.

“I walk over here all the time and never feel unsafe,” he said. “I get my haircut here, I go to the Kroger or eat at the McDonalds. Maybe it's time to close the club, though.”

Saturday was the second mass shooting in Indianapolis in a week.

On Oct. 29, Kalin Washington, 16, was killed and nine other people, including five juveniles, were injured in the shooting at a business park in the 5100 block of East 65th Street.

The gunfire occurred inside a hair salon as well as out in the parking lot, during a Halloween party.

As of Nov. 1, there have been 153 criminal homicides in Indianapolis compared to 185 at the same time last year, a decline of 17%.

A total of 211 criminal homicides were recorded in 2022.

Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at 317-444-6418 or email him at john.tuohy@indystar.com. Follow him on Facebook and X/Twitter.

Officers and forensic investigators work a scene where a person and an IMPD officer were shot just before 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, near the intersection of East 21st Street and North Shadeland Avenue in Indianapolis. The person, who was identified later as Frederick Davis, died. The officer sustained a "graze wound," according to IMPD.
Officers and forensic investigators work a scene where a person and an IMPD officer were shot just before 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, near the intersection of East 21st Street and North Shadeland Avenue in Indianapolis. The person, who was identified later as Frederick Davis, died. The officer sustained a "graze wound," according to IMPD.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: One killed, five injured in shooting outside south side club in Indy