Muncie, Indiana: Five Shot in White River Plaza Parking Lot Early Sunday, No Arrests

A shooting in the parking lot of a Muncie shopping plaza early Sunday wounded five people and left police searching for whoever opened fire, the Muncie Police Department said. Dispatchers received a report of the shooting at 1:02 a.m. on Sunday, October 25, in the parking lot of White River Plaza, in the 2100 block of West White River Boulevard on the city's west side, according to Deputy Chief Melissa Criswell of the Muncie Police Department.

Officers who reached the plaza found two people with gunshot wounds at the scene. Because IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital is close to the plaza, officers drove both victims there in city police cars, Criswell said. WTHR reported that officers arriving at the lot found several people fleeing the area. Three more victims reached the hospital in private vehicles, which brought the total number of people shot to five.

Two of the victims were treated in the emergency department at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital and released, Criswell said. The other three victims were still being treated at area hospitals on Sunday for injuries that were not life threatening. Police did not release the name of any victim in the reports published on Sunday, and they did not say whether any of the five knew each other.

Two altercations before the shots

Criswell said the first findings point to at least two altercations in two different areas of the parking lot before shots were fired. "From the initial investigation, it appears there were at least two altercations that occurred in two different areas of the parking lot," Criswell said. "No arrest has been made."

Detectives and evidence technicians were still actively working on the case on Sunday, she said. Police have not said how many people fired weapons, whether the two altercations were connected, or what started them. No suspect description was released in the Sunday reports, and police have not said whether they recovered a weapon at the scene.

The plaza and the investigation

White River Plaza now holds tenants that include sports card and comic book shops, a video game business and a piano bar, The Star Press reported. Decades ago, the plaza was home to a Ross supermarket and a large, two-story department store.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Muncie police detectives at 765-747-4867 or police dispatchers at 765-747-4838, Criswell said. The investigation remained open on Sunday afternoon, with no arrest announced and no further update on the three victims still in hospital care.