Seven people were injured early Sunday when gunfire broke out on Kirkwood Avenue near Dunn Street in Bloomington, sending victims to area hospitals by ambulance and setting off a foot chase that ended with police arresting a man found with a gun nearby. No fatalities were reported.
Bloomington Police were already patrolling near Kirkwood Avenue and Dunn Street when the shooting happened in the 400 block of Kirkwood Avenue, according to Fox 59. Officers reported seeing a male with a gun flee the area, and they chased him down before arresting him a short time later. Police said they located a gun nearby but could not yet say whether the man had actually fired any rounds.
Preliminary information indicates a disturbance broke out in a large crowd just before the shots were fired, the station's report notes. All seven victims were transported to area hospitals by ambulance, and as of the initial report, none of the injuries were described as fatal.
IU Alerts Tracked the Chaos in Real Time
Indiana University students and staff in the area got a blow-by-blow through the school's emergency notification system. An initial IU Notify alert went out at 1:31 a.m. warning of shots fired, according to the Indiana Daily Student. A second alert at 1:43 a.m. told recipients that police were actively responding to the incident, and a final update at 2:09 a.m. declared the threat no longer imminent.
IU Police and Indiana State Police both assisted Bloomington Police at the scene, per the same Fox 59 account. Investigators are still working to determine exactly what touched off the crowd disturbance that preceded the gunfire, and the station described the story as developing and subject to updates.
Police Seek Tips as Investigation Continues
Bloomington Police are asking anyone with information or video of the shooting to contact Detective Chris Scott at (812) 339-4477 or [email protected]. Investigators have not said how many shots were fired, what kind of weapon was involved, or whether anyone besides the arrested man may have fired a gun.
A Kirkwood Corridor With a Recent History
This is the second mass-casualty shooting on Kirkwood Avenue this year. On April 26, a shooting during a late-night street party near campus left five people injured, according to UPI, which reported the incident unfolded as crowds gathered to celebrate the annual Little 500 track cycling race and that police believed two separate individuals had fired handguns. WFYI, however, put the total injury count at nine, reporting that five of those hurt were struck by gunfire while four others were injured in the aftermath.
A later accounting from the B-Square Bulletin identified the five people struck by bullets or fragments in that April incident as women ages 17, 18, 20, 21 and 22, with one admitted to the hospital in stable condition and the rest treated and released. Police estimated that between 2,000 and 3,000 people were in the street that night and said they were reviewing cellphone videos and footage from nearby businesses as part of their investigation.
No details connecting Sunday's shooting to the April incident have been released, and investigators have not said what role, if any, the earlier case plays in their current inquiry. For now, Bloomington Police continue to treat the latest shooting as an active investigation and are relying on the public to help fill in what happened on Kirkwood Avenue before the gunfire started.
