Police revealed the identity of the alleged FedEx shooter as 19-year-old Brandon Scott Hole of Indiana.
Hole is suspected of opening fire at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis on Friday, killing eight people. Police said the suspect took his own life, and he is reportedly a former FedEx employee, a company spokesperson told CNN. He was last employed there in 2020.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Deputy Chief Craig McCartt told reporters Friday afternoon that investigators have not yet identified a motive.
“There was no confrontation with anyone that was there. There was no disturbance. There was no argument,” McCartt said. “He just appeared to randomly start shooting, and that began in the parking lot. And then he did go into the facility for a brief period of time before he took his own life.”
McCartt also said Hole appeared in past police reports.
The FBI confirmed Hole was temporarily placed in a mental health facility last year after his mother raised concerns that he wanted to take his life through police. “In March 2020, the suspect’s mother contacted law enforcement to report he might try to commit ‘suicide by cop,'” FBI Special Agent in Charge Paul Keenan said in a statement obtained by NBC News.
“Suicide by cop” is a law enforcement term used to describe incidents in which a suicidal person intentionally engages in a life-threatening or criminal manner toward civilians or law enforcement to provoke officers to shoot them in self-defense or out of public protection, according to the National Library of Medicine.
A shotgun was seized from the suspect’s home upon the concerns raised by his mother, and he was interviewed by the FBI in April 2020. No racially motivated violent extremism was suspected of Hole. His shotgun was not returned to him, the FBI said.
During Thursday’s incident, at least 100 people were in that facility, many of whom were switching shifts or taking their dinner breaks, Indianapolis police said in a press release.
Authorities say five victims with gunshot wounds were transported to local hospitals, while two others with minor injuries were treated by emergency personnel at the scene.
The Marion County Coroner’s Office named the eight victims who died in the shooting after their families were notified, according to a statement Friday evening from Indianapolis police.
The county identified Matthew Alexander, 32, Samaria Blackwell, 19, Amarjeet Johal, 66, Jaswinder Kaur, 64, Jaswinder Singh, 68, Amarjit Sekhon, 48, Karli Smith, 19, and John Weisert, 74, among those who died in the attack.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb ordered flags be lowered to half-staff to honor the victims; the same was done in other states. President Joe Biden also ordered the flag at the White House to be lowered to half-staff on Friday.
Indianapolis Police Chief Randal Taylor said investigators are still piecing together answers on why the incident took place.
“There is a lot we still don’t know about this tragedy, and our investigators are working around the clock to deliver answers to families and to our community,” Taylor said. “As we provide updates on this tragic case, we will always remain focused on what is most important: the eight members of our community who lost their lives because of this senseless act.”
Investigators were seen searching an Indianapolis home of the suspect and seized desktop computers and other electronic media as potential evidence on early Friday morning.
Neighbors said they saw more than 30 police vehicles arrive on their street this morning, a few hours after the shooting.
Jimmy Clark, who has lived in the neighborhood for 18 years, said he’s never seen a law enforcement presence as large as the one today.
“Went to walk my dog this morning, and they were everywhere. Never seen anything like this. It’s sad to see something like this so close,” Clark told News 13 of Indianapolis.
McCartt said police are issuing search warrants on a couple of locations, including a vehicle and possibly some personal electronics.
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Officers were first called about reports of gunfire at the facility near Indianapolis International Airport after 11 p.m. on Thursday. Authorities describe the incident as a “very short” event that lasted only a couple minutes.
