Michael Conroy / AP
A bouquet of flowers sits on April 17, 2021, in the rocks across the street from the FedEx facility in Indianapolis.
Eight people were killed during the shooting late Thursday at a FedEx plant in Indianapolis, which was between 19 and 74 years old.
All were employees at the facility, and some showed up just for the 23-hour shift. Four of them were members of the Sikh community, which according to local leaders should be taken into account in the ongoing investigation into the shooter’s motive. The 19-year-old, who previously worked at the FedEx plant, killed himself after setting himself on fire in the parking lot and inside.
It was the last month in several mass shootings in the past month. So far in 2021, at least 5,530 people have died from gun violence, not those who died by suicide, according to the gun violence archive.
A vigil is planned for Sunday night on the steps of City Hall for the victims. This is how friends and family remember them:
Amarjit Sekhon, 48
Amarjit Kaur Sekhon, 48 ‘She will never sit still … the other day she had the (COVID-19) shot and she was really sick, but she still went to work.’ The ‘breadwinner’ in her family, Amarjit, started working at FedEx in November.
Amarjit Sekhon, 48, leaves behind two sons and her husband. Her brother-in-law, Kuldip Sekhon, told the Associated Press that she started working at the FedEx plant in November and was “a dedicated worker whose husband was unfit.” ‘
“She was a workaholic, she always worked,” he said. “She will never sit still … the other day she has the [COVID-19 vaccine] and she was really sick, but she still went to work. ”
Sekhon’s 22-year-old son, Diljot Sekhon, reiterated this sentiment about his mother to the Indianapolis Star, saying: ‘She worked countless hours a week just so she could feed everyone in the house. She did everything she could for her two children and her husband. ‘
His mother has been helping to support her family since she came to the US, he added.
“She tried her best,” he told the Star. ‘And that’s exactly how she died; she’s going to work. ‘
Jasvinder Kaur, 50
Jasvinder Kaur (50) liked to cook. Even when she was exhausted from working late-night shifts at FedEx, she came home and made a meal for her family. “There is a saying that when a mother loves, her love comes from food,” said family member Rimpi Girn. “She was a mother to us.”
Fifty-year-old Jasvinder Kaur was a relative of Sekhon. According to the Washington Post, Kaur did not have her driver’s license, and Sekhon drove her to work every day. The two of them were shot dead in the parking lot of the FedEx facility while working shift at 11 p.m.
Kaur emigrated from India to the United States three years ago to be closer to her daughter, the Post reports, and still has a 26-year-old son in India whom she hoped to bring to the US. These plans have been postponed due to COVID-19.
Amarjeet Kaur Johal, 66
Amarjeet Kaur Johal, 66, was a mother and grandmother, as well as a member of the Sikh community in Indianapolis. Johal’s granddaughter tweeted about the loss of her nanjii and said, ‘She would do a double job so she could have Friday today, but decided to just grab her check and go home.’
“She still had her check in her hand when they found her,” the tweet said prosecute. “What a hard and cruel world we live in.”
The granddaughter too tweeted a photo of Johal, who wrote: “You deserve so much better than that.”
“She just celebrated her 66th birthday like yesterday and today her granddaughter’s birthday. Life is so short man, ” did she tweet. ‘Keep your family close, because the world is perverted. Cherish every moment and keep no hatred in your heart. Fill your life with happiness and irreplaceable memories. ”
Jaswinder Singh, 68
68-year-old Jaswinder Singh was shot dead in the #FEDEx mass shooting while standing in line waiting to collect his salary. He was a member of the #Greenwood #Sikh Temple congregation.
Jaswinder Singh, 68, worked at the FedEx plant in Indianapolis for just a few weeks before being shot dead while trying to get his first salary. One of Singh’s cousins, who spoke to the Washington Post on condition of anonymity, said Singh emigrated to the United States eight years ago and recently accepted the FedEx post because he was ‘bored at home’ and that he knew that other immigrants from Punjabi were working there.
“They knew a lot of people who worked there. They just charred together. It was a well-paid job. “Many older Punjabis worked there,” said the cousin. “He was always positive, always kind and I never saw him angry. He will randomly come and say hello. ‘
Samaria Blackwell, 19
Nineteen-year-old Samaria Blackwell, who worked at the FedEx facility for two months, is described by her family as a “loving, caring daughter” who was a straightforward student as well as an athlete.
‘Samaria was tough in everything she did, from basketball and football to a lifesaver for Indy Parks. “On the pitch or on the football field, she had a difficult match face, but that quickly changed to a smile outside the competition,” Blackwell’s family said in a statement. They also wrote that the teenager was the ‘baby’ of her family and looked up to her older siblings and that she ‘dreamed of becoming a police officer’.
“Although that dream has been cut short, we believe she is rejoicing with her Savior in heaven at the moment,” the statement continued. “On this side of heaven we grieve, but not as those who have no hope, because we realize that Samaria’s life has just begun.”
The Blackwell family also set up a GoFundMe for Samaira’s funeral expenses.
Karli Smith, 19
Karli Smith, another 19-year-old who was killed, worked at FedEx just two weeks before the shooting. Smith was born and bred in Indianapolis and will be attending high school in 2020. The Indianapolis Public Schools issued a statement saying Smith was “known as a hardworking and dedicated student.”
‘While at Crispus Attucks, she played in the softball team and was loved by her teammates and coaches. She also played basketball and volleyball during high school with Daniel Webster, “reads the statement. ‘Administrators, teachers and classmates remember Karli for her sense of humor which often caused smiles and laughter. Karli was a bright light everywhere she went. She will be greatly missed by the entire IPS who knew and loved her. ”
Smith’s family also paid tribute to her on Facebook. Her sister Dominique Troutman wrote: ‘I miss your sister. I love your husband, words can not even explain how I feel, I am so hurt about this. I always love you and you will never be forgotten. ”
Matthew Alexander, 32
This is Matthew Alexander. He was 32 years old. He is one of eight victims killed in the FedEx shooting. He’s studying at Avon. To honor Matthew, there was a moment of silence at the Avon baseball game yesterday and his father threw out the first field.
According to the Indianapolis Star, Matthew R. Alexander, 32, was loved among his colleagues. Former FedEx manager Albert Ashcraft told the newspaper that Alexander liked everyone, especially since he made sure the drivers brought in some donuts as well.
“He was a wonderful child. He liked to play golf. “Had a big heart – always had a smile on his face,” Ashcraft told Star. ‘Whatever it took to make a truck driver happy, that’s what he did. He just wasn’t the usual sender. He was a good kid. Thirty-two years old, you know, cut my life short. It’s really sad. ”
Butler University, where Alexander went to school, also tweeted about the tragedy Saturday.
The Butler community mourns the loss of Matthew Alexander, a former student who was tragically killed along with seven others at the FedEx plant in Indianapolis. We would like to express our deepest sympathy to Matthew’s friends and family during this time of great sadness. ”
John “Steve” Weiseret, 74
John “Steve” Weiseret was the oldest victim at the age of 74.
He handled the job as a FedEx package after retiring as an engineer to pay bills, his wife, Mary Carol Weiseret, told WTHR. The couple would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this year.
When Weiseret did not return home on April 15, his wife said she felt ‘panicked’.
‘I just immediately [felt] horror, terror, horror, fear, shock, ”Mary Carol Weiseret told WTHR. ‘I mean, you know, I do not know how I can describe it differently. Actually, it bothered me physically. I began to tremble like a leaf. ‘
According to the Washington Post, Weiseret was a first lieutenant in the air force. His wife also told WTHR that he had a career as a professional engineer, and he took the job at FedEx four and a half years ago. He planned to retire from his job at the facility in six weeks.
The couple both recovered earlier this year after contracting COVID-19 and were fully vaccinated, excited to see their daughter in Seattle.
“It was miraculous that he was able to survive COVID,” their daughter-in-law Jenny Kriger told the Post. “Yet it finally took him.”