Family of Indianapolis FedEx shooter apologizes: ‘We are devastated’
The family of the teenager who fatally shot eight people at a FedEx plant in Indianapolis expressed devastation Saturday for the senseless rampage.
Brandon Scott Hole, 19, shot himself dead as police approached late Thursday night.
“We are devastated at the loss of life caused as a result of Brandon’s actions; through the love of his family, we tried to get him the help he needed,” Hole’s family told local Indianapolis TV station WISH. “Our sincerest and most heartfelt apologies go out to the victims of this senseless tragedy.”
“We are so sorry for the pain and hurt being felt by their families and the entire Indianapolis community.”
Hole opened fire at the FedEx processing plant just after 11 p.m., police said. He killed four people outside, then walked inside and fatally shot four more. Seven people were injured in the carnage.
Matthew Alexander, 32; Samaria Blackwell, 19; Amarjeet Johal, 66; Jasvinder Kaur, 50; Amarjit Sekhon, 48; Jaswinder Singh, 68; Karli Smith, 19; and John Weisert, 74, were killed.
Hole, who worked at the plant early in 2020, turned the gun on himself as police closed in.
Four of the dead were Sikhs. Around 90% of the employees at the FedEx plant are members of the Sikh community, Indianapolis police said.
The shooting comes the week Sikhs are celebrating Vaisakhi, a major holiday festival that among other things marks the date Sikhism was born as a collective faith.
People gathered to mourn in gurdwaras, which are Sikh houses of worship.
“My nani, my family, and our families should not feel unsafe at work, at their place of worship, or anywhere,” Johal’s granddaughter, Komal Chohan, said. “Enough is enough — our community has been through enough trauma.”
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