In March 2020, the mother of shooter Brandon Hole contacted police because she was concerned about his behavior after purchasing a gun, according to recent details from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD). She told police he told her “he was going to point a recently purchased gun at police officers so they would shoot him.” And when police went to their home, they noticed that he was visiting white supremacist websites, the report said.
In an attack that lasted only minutes, Hole opened fire on the plant near Indianapolis’ main airport before taking his own life on Thursday night. Of the eight people killed in the violence, four were members of the Sikh community in the area, Maninder Singh Walia, a member of the Sikh community in Indianapolis, told CNN on Friday.
The case also raised concerns about access to guns, as the Hole pistol was seized in 2020.
After his mother told officers on March 3 that she feared for her safety after her son bought a gun the day before, the IMPD detained Hole, confiscated the gun, put him in an immediate temporary mental health position and then transported him to a local hospital for evaluation, the police report said.
While Hole was handcuffed, he became anxious and said, “Please turn off the power strip on my computer” and “I do not want anyone to see what is on it,” according to the report. An officer, described as cleaning the top floor and securing the gun, observed ‘white acting sites’ through his training and experience,’ the report said.
Restrictions on red flag laws
Despite the temporary stance of mental health in March, Hole was able to legally purchase firearms in July and September 2020, Indianapolis police said.
The prosecutor illustrates the limitations of state law, Marion County, Indiana prosecutor Ryan Mears said Monday.
Since the gun taken from Hole’s home was secured and the family did not want to get it back, prosecutors felt they had “achieved” the purpose of the law, Mears said. If the state had filed a petition, the court would have ruled that prosecutors do not have legal power to hold the weapon.
“In this particular case, the petition was not filed because the family in this particular case agreed to forfeit the firearm in question and they are not going to follow the return of the firearm,” Mears said.
Mears said the state did not have access to “anything that indicates that (Hole) had a history or documented diagnosis of mental illness.”
“We have 14 days under the law and because we have 14 days, our ability to have access to a meaningful medical history, meaningful mental health records, is very limited.” Under Indiana law, a person can respond to a subpoena for 30 days, Mears said.
“The sad reality is that there is nothing that prohibits anyone from acquiring a firearm, but that’s just the sad truth,” Mears said.
8 dead and 4 people still admitted to hospital
Friday night, Indianapolis police released the names of the eight deceased victims. It was Matthew R. Alexander, 32; Samaria Blackwell, 19; Amarjeet Johal, 66; Jasvinder Kaur, 50; Jaswinder Singh, 68; Amarjit Sekhon, 48; Karli Smith, 19; and John Weiseret, 74.
Four individuals were hospitalized Monday with injuries sustained in the attack, FedEx said.
This sentiment was reflected in a letter to the Biden government on Saturday, in which the Sikh coalition wrote: ‘It was no coincidence that the shooter targeted this particular FedEx facility where he worked and knew that Sikhs were overwhelmingly manned. . ‘
Two of the victims, Sekhon and Kaur, were relatively new to Indianapolis and were working the overnight shift at the FedEx plant when they were killed, said Rimpi Girn, an Indianapolis resident who knew them.
Sekhon, after emigrating to the U.S. in 2004, moved from Ohio to Indiana in 2019 to be closer to family and relatives, said Girn, a good family friend. Sekhon leaves behind a husband and two boys aged 13 and 19, Girn said.
Kaur, who emigrated to the US in 2018, was the breadwinner for her family, according to Girn. Sekhon drove Kaur to work because Kaur did not have a driver’s license, Girn said.
The fund said 100% of the donations “go to the families and those affected by the tragedy.”
CNN’s Kristina Sgueglia, Meridith Edwards, Harmeet Kaur, Eric Levenson, Steve Almasy, Dakin Andone, Jason Carroll, Meredith Edwards, Jason Hanna, Kay Jones, LaCrisha McAllister, Evan Perez, Shimon Prokupecz, Hollie Silverman, Artemis Moshtaghian and Amanda Wat. this report.