Bloomington, Indiana: Seven Hospitalized After Shooting on Kirkwood Avenue Near Indiana University Campus

A shooting on Kirkwood Avenue in downtown Bloomington, Indiana, wounded at least seven people early on Sunday, November 1, and seven people were taken by ambulance to area hospitals, Bloomington police said in a news release. Police reported no deaths, and they said it was possible there were more victims.

Where the shots were fired

The shooting took place in the block of Kirkwood Avenue between Grant Street and Dunn Street, near 420 Kirkwood Avenue. Police said shell casings of different calibers were found on the sidewalk near 420 Kirkwood. That block sits two blocks west of the Indiana University campus in Bloomington, and it was busy that night with a large crowd in the street.

Officers were already nearby

City and university police officers were already near Kirkwood Avenue between Grant and Dunn to monitor a large crowd when they heard several gunshots at around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday. Preliminary information from police indicates there was a disturbance in the large crowd just before the shooting. Officers were therefore on the block within moments, at a time when the crowd they had been watching was still gathered between Grant Street and Dunn Street.

A man was chased and caught

A man with a gun was seen running northeast from the area of the gunshots, police said. Officers chased him and caught him east of Indiana Avenue near Dunn Meadow, and a gun was located nearby. Police said it is currently unknown if that man was the person who fired the shots. That question sits at the center of the investigation: a man was caught, a gun was found nearby, and police have not said the two facts settle who pulled the trigger on Kirkwood Avenue.

Homecoming night in Bloomington

The shooting happened during homecoming weekend at Indiana University, according to Bloomington Deputy Chief of Police Ryan Pedigo, whose account was reported by the New York Post citing WTHR. It came hours after the university homecoming football game on Saturday evening, which Indiana won in overtime against Minnesota. The conditions of the seven people taken to hospital were unknown in the first reports, and no deaths were reported by police or in the accounts carried that morning.

Police ask for video and information

Police asked anyone with information or video footage of the shooting to contact detective Chris Scott at (812) 339-4477 or by email at [email protected]. Investigators have shell casings of different calibers from the sidewalk near 420 Kirkwood, a gun located near where the man was caught by Dunn Meadow, and a large crowd that was on the avenue when the disturbance and then the shots broke out. Because police said more victims were possible, the count of seven people hospitalized is the confirmed figure from the first release, not a final total for the night.