INDIANAPOLIS — "One of biggest challenges that we face right now, it's never been easier for young people to get a gun," Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said.
Marion County Prosecutor, Ryan Mears, says more teenagers involved in gun violence are revolving through the criminal justice system.
"You didn't use to get many cases with 13-14 year old's with guns. Now, we are seeing that more common. It used to be 17 and 18 year olds," Mears said.
A 15-year-old was killed Tuesday morning. A 22-year-old was killed Monday night.
"I think (youth gun violence) points to a number of challenges that we face," said Mears.
Mears said one challenge the city is facing is young people buying guns off social media and then altering the weapons.
"The biggest issue that we see in young people right now is the Glock switches, which is something you print on a 3D printer, and it turns an ordinary handgun from a semi-automatic weapon into an automatic weapon," Mears said. "We are seeing a significant increase in those types of cases and those cases are really concerning for us because it gives someone the ability to fire literally 20 shots in a matter of seconds."
The prosecutor's office points to disputes as the main result of gun violence.
"It used to be that a significant amount of our homicides were robberies gone bad or drug-related homicides," Mears said. "Certainly those still occur, but the vast majority of the homicide cases that we are seeing are simple disputes between people leading to gun violence."
In Indianapolis, there have been at least eight people under the age of 18 killed by gunfire so far, this year.
More than 50 under the age of 18 have been shot according to IMPD.
"It's painful. It's sickening. People get your kids," Anthoney Hampton said.
Anthoney Hampton said talks to children at the Brightwood Community Center about gun violence.
He said juveniles are "at war with each other" and says the community needs to step up.
"It's my fault, it's the administration, the mayor, IMPD — anybody that runs youth organizations — teachers, we all were supposed to identify this problem years ago," Hampton said.
The prosecutor's office tells WRTV, that since 2020, there have been more than 400 cases of juveniles possessing firearms in Marion County.
"I think the first thing there has to be accountability," Mears said. "We have never filed more charges against young people for dangerous possession of a firearm which is our gun charge for kids less than 18 of age, but the second part is we have never had a higher conviction rate as it relates to homicide rates in trial."
-
US Secret Service shoots and kills armed man at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort
The U.S. Secret Service announced Sunday that an armed man was shot and killed after entering the secure perimeter of Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
Former Purdue wide receiver, NFL player Rondale Moore dies at 25
Rondale Moore, the former Purdue University wide receiver who played most recently for the Minnesota Vikings, was found dead Saturday night in New Albany, Indiana, authorities said. He was 25.
Docs: Teens opened fire on officers during chase tied to homicide investigation
Newly filed court documents reveal a police chase, involving three juveniles, that ended in an officer-involved shooting on Indy's far east side was tied to a homicide investigation.
Hancock County to receive $13M in federal funds for road safety, bridge upgrades
The Indiana Department of Transportation announced nearly $180 million in federal funding for infrastructure projects across Indiana, with Hancock County receiving a significant portion of that money.
