At least 7 shot, all under 17, in shooting near Indianapolis mall

Seven children were injured in a shooting outside a shopping mall in downtown Indianapolis Saturday night, police said.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officers were on patrol when they heard gunshots shortly after 11:30 p.m. and arrived a block outside Circle Center Mall. According to police, officers saw six people suffering from gunshot wounds.

All the victims were between the ages of 12 and 17, police said.

Emergency medical services arrived to take the children to hospitals, and a seventh person under the age of 18 arrived at the hospital on their own. One victim is in critical condition while 6 others are stable.

Tanya Terry, deputy chief of operations for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police, described the shooting as “deeply troubling.”

“Once again, we have a situation where young people are resolving conflicts with guns, and that needs to stop,” Terry said.

Terry told reporters that officers observed youths leaving the mall after it closed at 7 p.m. and walking around the nearby downtown area for hours. He noted that if a parent doesn't know where their 12-year-old is at 11:30 p.m. before Easter, that “should be a priority.”

“I think everybody watches the news at 10 p.m., 'Parents do you know where your kids are?'” Terry said, referring to the old public service announcement. “And, especially at this time of the evening, we're asking our parents to be involved in what their kids are doing.”

Police have made no arrests in the case and have not released information about a suspected suspect. Detectives with the department have begun an active assault investigation, police said.

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This is the third shooting in three weekends in Indianapolis, according to NBC News affiliate WTHR.

Last Sunday, five people, including an officer, were killed in a shootout in the eastern part of the city. The station reported. An officer shot and killed the suspect in that case.

On March 16, a shooting at a bar left one person dead and five others injured Indianapolis Star. A suspect was arrested and charged in the shooting after police were able to identify the shooter using surveillance footage from inside the bar, the newspaper reported.

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