19-year-old gunman in Indiana shooting that killed 8 had prior FBI contact, gun seized

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — Police in Indianapolis on Friday identified the gunman who stormed a FedEx facility near the Indianapolis airport, killing 8 people and wounding several others, but investigators could not yet say why he opened fire with a rifle overnight before taking his own life.

The shooter was named by law enforcement officials as 19-year-old Brandon Scott Hole of Indiana. Investigators searched a home in Indianapolis associated with Hole and seized evidence, including desktop computers and other electronic media, the officials said.

Police indicated Hole was a former employee of the company and last worked for FedEx in 2020, but they did not know why Hole left the job or if he had ties to current workers in the facility.

The FBI said it questioned Hole last year after his mother called police to say that her son might commit “suicide by cop.” No crime was identified, but police seized a gun from him.

RELATED STORY: Authorities were warned about FedEx suspect’s potential for violence, sources say

"We've all been shaken by this heinous act," said Indianapolis Police Chief Randal Taylor.

The police chief called this FedEx location, which is the company's second-largest express hub in the world, a major employer for the city. He also noted that a “significant” number of employees at the facility are members of the Sikh community.

Deputy Chief Craig McCartt said the gunman started randomly shooting at people in the parking lot late Thursday night and then went into the building and continued firing. He said the gunman died by suicide shortly before police entered the building.

"This suspect came to the facility ... he got out of his car and pretty quickly started some random shooting outside the facility. There was no confrontation with anyone that was there,” he said. “There was no disturbance, there was no argument. He just appeared to randomly start shooting."

McCartt said four people were killed outside the building and another four inside. Several people were also wounded, including five taken to the hospital. Another two people were treated and released at the scene.

The carnage took just a couple of minutes. “It did not last very long,” he said.

Officials with the coroner’s office said they had not been able to identify all the victims and notify famililes because evidence was still being collected.

Authorities had not yet uncovered a motive for the shooting but the FBI said it had not identified Hole as espousing a racially-motivated ideology.

“We’re still trying to ascertain the exact reason and cause for this incident,” police spokeswoman Genae Cook said, adding that "this is a sight no one should ever have to see.”

Witnesses who work at the facility said they saw a man with a gun after hearing several gunshots.

“I saw a man with a sub-machine gun of some sort, an automatic rifle, and he was firing in the open,” Jeremiah Miller explained.

“I see a man come out with a rifle in his hand and he starts firing and he starts yellin’ stuff that I could not understand,” added Levi Miller. “What I ended up doing was ducking down to make sure he did not see me because I thought he would see me and he would shoot me.”

Crime scene tape could be seen in the parking lot outside the facility. In addition, Interstate 70 near the facility was closed overnight in both directions due to police activity.

In a statement early Friday, FedEx indicated people who worked for the company were among the eight dead. The company said it was cooperating with authorities investigating the “tragic shooting” at its Indianapolis facility.

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by the loss of our team members following the tragic shooting at our FedEx Ground facility in Indianapolis,” the statement said. “Our most heartfelt sympathies are with all those affected by this senseless act of violence.”

It was the latest in a recent string of mass shootings across the U.S. Last month, eight people were fatally shot at massage businesses across the Atlanta area, and 10 died in gunfire at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.

It was at least the third mass shooting this year in Indianapolis alone. Five people, including a pregnant woman, were shot and killed in January, and a man was accused of killing three adults and a child before abducting his daughter during at argument at a home in March.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb ordered flags to be flown at half-staff until April 20, and he and others decried the FedEx shooting, with some noting how frequent such attacks are.

“We wake up once more to news of a mass shooting, this time in Indiana. No country should accept this now-routine horror. It’s long past time to act,” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who is from Indiana, tweeted.

“I am heartbroken by the mass shooting at the FedEx facility here in Indianapolis and praying for all affected by this tragedy,” tweeted Congressman Andre Carson, a Democrat whose district includes much of the city of Indianapolis.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland was briefed on the shooting, and the White House said President Joe Biden’s advisors had been in touch with the city’s mayor and law enforcement officials.