INDIANAPOLIS -- Community members are sharing concerns after a large group of people took over part of MLK Street Sunday night.
Traffic around MLK and 29th Street came to a near stand-still late Sunday night after community members in the area said a group blocked the road in what is called a "street takeover."
"I feel like people in this neighborhood deserve to live in a peaceful and safe neighborhood," said Rev. Charles Harrison with Barnes United Methodist Church. "And this is not peaceful and safe."
Harrison said it is an issue that happens almost every Sunday night, especially as the weather gets warmer.
"It gives the neighborhood a bad rap and I just feel like something needs to be done about it because it just creates this atmosphere of violence and chaos in the neighborhood," he said.
Back in September, FOX59/CBS4 reported on another large street takeover on MLK Street. People riding on horses could even be seen in a video from that large gathering.
Harrison said he has worried about these so-called "street takeovers" for years. It is also something IMPD has been working to address.
"It's not illegal for folks to just drive up and down the street," said Officer William Young with IMPD. "But what does become a problem is when we have open disturbances or we have shots being fired while our officers are actually on scene."
This is exactly what happened Sunday night. Officer Young said several officers were already in the area when the situation escalated to a shooting. While no one was injured during Sunday's incident, Harrison said he worries that will not always be the case.
"How many people are going to have to die over in this area or be shot and injured before something is really done," he asked.
IMPD said officers patrol the area on a regular basis, even on Sunday nights, and will continue to do so.
"Obstructing traffic and reckless driving are things we cannot have because we have to have a continuous flow of traffic and make sure everyone is safe in those particular neighborhoods," Young said. "Our officers will continuously, proactively patrol and proactively do everything we can to make sure the flow of traffic is going and make sure there’s no disturbances and so forth."
Community leaders like Harrison said they want to have larger conversations with city leaders about other preventative measures.
IMPD said it did not arrest anyone Sunday night. The department is urging anyone involved with these large gatherings to keep them off city streets.