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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has released the names of the eight people who were killed when a former employee opened fire late Thursday at a FedEx Ground facility near Indianapolis International Airport before killing himself.
IMPD said on its Facebook page that the Marion County Coroner’s Office had identified the victims—all FedEx employees—and notified their families.
They are:
Matthew R. Alexander, 32
Samaria Blackwell, 19
Amarjeet Johal, 66
Jasvinder Kaur, 54 (this name has been corrected)
Jaswinder Singh, 68
Amarjit Sekhon, 48
Karli Smith, 19
John Weisert, 74
Four of the victims were members of the Sikh community, according to a leader at Sikh Satsang, a local temple. The number of people in Indianapolis practicing Sikhism, a monotheistic religion that originated in northern India, has grown in recent years.
Our statement on emerging news regarding the shooting at the Indianapolis FedEx facility: pic.twitter.com/655bjn4wlc
— Sikh Coalition (@sikh_coalition) April 16, 2021
Earlier Friday, Deputy Police Chief Craig McCartt confirmed the gunman’s identity as 19-year-old Brandon Scott Hole.
He said Hole was a former FedEx employee who last worked for the company in fall 2020, but he did not know why Hole left the job or if he had ties to the workers in the facility at 8951 Mirabel Road where the attack took place.
McCartt said police have not yet uncovered a motive for Thursday’s shooting.
According to police, Hole started randomly shooting at people in the parking lot and then went into the building and continued firing. Police said the shooter apparently died by suicide shortly before police entered the building.
Police said there were at least 100 people in the 300,000-square-foot facility at the time of the incident. Many were changing shifts and on their dinner breaks.
Overall, about 875 operations managers, package handlers and other staff work at the sorting facility.
Among the Sikh workers who died was Johal, who had attended Sikh Sahib of Indianapolis for at least four years, was a hard worker, taking night shifts at the FedEx facility to support her family, including at least three grandchildren, said Gurpreet Singh, the temple’s president.
When news of the shooting first broke Thursday, Singh feared he would know those who died, as some temple members work at that facility.
“Everyone was worried,” he said.
On Friday, as he searched for details, he learned Johal was among the dead from spotting her photo on social media.
He recognized her face—the same woman who frequently volunteered in the temple’s kitchen. Kamaljt Kaur, who is in charge of the kitchen, remembered Johal was often smiling, either while cooking for the hundreds of members who attend the temple or cleaning up.
“She never refused to do any chores,” she said.
Two weeks ago, when one of Johal’s friends threw a party at the temple, Johal wore an elaborate, traditional dress and put on makeup.
“Everyone was telling her ‘you look beautiful,’” Kaur recalled, “and she was smiling.”
Johal’s granddaughter, Komal Chohan, said in a statement that she is “heartbroken.”
“I have several family members who work at the particular facility and are traumatized,” Chohan said. “My nani, my family, and our families should not feel unsafe at work, at their place of worship, or anywhere. Enough is enough — our community has been through enough trauma.”
CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to reflect changes in the spellings of some of the victims. In one case, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department on Saturday completely the name and the age of a victim. That victim is now identified as 50-year-old Jasvinder Kaur.
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Let us not make this a religious or racial issue like the media is prone to do. There were 4 others of various religions and races that were killed as well.
How do you know it wasn’t a race/religious issue?
Suspect the victims just happened to be who were clustered around talking to each other when the shooter arrived rather than any particular targeting.