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Suspect left forklift operator ID, gun near scene of fatal shooting at Lucas Oil Stadium

Lucas Oil Stadium
Posted at 12:51 PM, Mar 09, 2023
and last updated 2023-03-13 16:45:20-04

INDIANAPOLIS — On Monday 35-year-old Donnie Sanders was killed after being shot during a break from his shift at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Elijah Hayes, 25, has been charged with murder in connection with the crime.

A witness told detectives he saw a person walk up to Sanders and say “you look familiar” before shooting him at point blank range, court documents say.

The suspect was noticed by the witness to be wearing dark clothing and a face mask.

Officers with IMPD responded to the scene around 9:45 p.m. and began collecting evidence as Sanders was pronounced dead at the scene.

During surveillance videos, the man later to be identified as the suspect, is seen with a backpack around the Indiana Convention Center.

He is seen again near the loading docks, but without the backpack.

According to court documents, investigators found the backpack under a truck at the loading docks. Inside was a Glock handgun with a magazine inserted and Hayes' forklift operator ID.

During the investigation, the shift supervisor at Lucas Oil claimed that Sanders was not the only employee that was missing following the incident. Another employee – that turned out to be suspect’s brother – was also missing.

The brother later returned to the scene with the Lyft rideshare app open on his phone. He claimed to police that he was simply messing with the app, according to court documents.

The suspect’s brother is not named nor is charged with anything at the time of this report.

During an interview with police, the suspect initially spoke about the incident, but when asked about the backpack he declined to comment.