INDIANAPOLIS — A toddler was injured in a shooting incident on the near southwest side of Indianapolis Tuesday evening--and police arrested two people in connection with the case.
According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, officers were called to the 2600 block of South Belmont Avenue on a report of a person shot. While en route to the area, police received an additional call indicating they should instead respond to the intersection of South Harding Street and West Morris Street.
When police arrived at the scene, they located a male toddler with injuries consistent with gunshot wounds. IMPD reported that the juvenile was transported from the scene to a local hospital in critical condition.
After a preliminary investigation, IMPD determined that the shooting may have happened inside a vehicle. Police also indicated the injuries the juvenile sustained may have been accidental and self-inflicted.
On Wednesday, IMPD said 26-year-old Anaya Velazquez and 26-year old Antreaun Rice were arrested on a preliminary charge of neglect of a dependent.
"We can't stress enough that firearms in the hands of children with no supervised adults is devastating," IMPD Officer Drew Brown said during a media briefing. "We are going to be working hard to try to determine what led up to this. This is a difficult type of incident for our officers to respond to. They have families of their own who they left when they started their shift, we have officers who are going to be on their way in who have families at home waiting for them. Any tragedy like this involving a child is devastating."
The Indianapolis-Marion County Forensic Services Agency and the Indiana Department of Child Services also responded to the scene to investigate the incident.
IMPD is asking those with information on the incident to contact detectives at (317) 327-3475. Alternatively, tipsters can contact Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at (317) 262-8477.
Counting Tuesday's incident, three young children have sustained accidental or possibly self-inflicted gunshot wounds in Indianapolis over the last two weeks.
On Aug. 18, a 4-year-old boy was injured in a shooting in the 3600 block of North Dearborn Street. The boy, who was later identified as Corione Monte Butts Jr., subsequently died. Less than 24 hours later, a 5-year-old suffered gunshot wounds in the 4500 block of Golden Meadow Drive around 11:15 p.m. The child — Jayden Ewing — later died.
On Monday, a 3-year-old was killed in a shooting in the 7400 block of North Shadeland Avenue. Another juvenile was also shot during an attempted robbery near 38th Street and Moller Road earlier this month.
"This is an absolute tragedy," Brown said of Tuesday's shooting. "To have to respond to something like this as an officer is heartbreaking, but for a family to have to experience something like this is devastating. This is the second time in 24 hours that Indianapolis has had to receive news of this nature. Our hearts are with the family, but we're devastated to have to continue to respond to something like this.
"We can't speak enough to the fact that gun ownership and gun responsibility are one and the same. If you are a firearm owner, you must be responsible."