MUNCIE, Ind. (WXIN) — A street party in Muncie, Indiana, turned into the scene of a deadly shooting early Sunday morning.
One man died and nearly two dozen others were injured. Of those wounded, 19 were treated at Ball Memorial Hospital's emergency room, and four were taken to other hospitals. Thirteen victims remained hospitalized in stable condition Sunday afternoon.
After the mass shooting, police announced that there was no further danger to the general public.
”Stranger comes up and decides to take it personal on somebody he knows in the crowd," said one anonymous man who claimed his nephew was the block party's disc jockey. "And you can’t fight against an AR. He let loose in the crowd. Everywhere in the crowd.”
The Delaware County coroner identified the deceased victim as 30-year-old Joseph Bonner. There’s no indication if Bonner played an active role in the shooting, whether any other victims are suspected of firing guns, or if any firearms were recovered.
A witness at IU/Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie described a scene of emergency department chaos with more than 100 people descending on the facility — many of whom were victims that were taken to the hospital by private vehicles.
Officers from several agencies — including a Muncie-based FBI agent — secured the crime scene and collected evidence while doctors and nurses treated the wounded from the mass casualty event.
By midday, detectives were still walking the debris-strewn street and parking lot with brown bags filled with collected evidence. A tow truck was also seen hauling away a bullet-riddled red Buick that appeared to have crashed during an attempt to leave the scene.
The Muncie Homecoming Festival committee said the street party where the shooting happened was not part of the official MHF celebration going on this week.
Muncie Parks Superintendent Carl Malone told Nexstar's WXIN he chaired a neighborhood crime watch meeting last Thursday, and residents expressed fear that this weekend could turn volatile.
”We was a little concerned about violence that we thought might happen," said Malone, who described Muncie Homecoming as a city-wide welcome home celebration held once every four years for former residents and family members to reconnect with their hometown. ”You had a lot of people congregating in one area, just hanging out and wanting to be part of the neighborhood activities. And then, at that point at time, it got into late night, and when you get into late nights, you usually have some sort of curfew violations, alcohol, guns and drugs seem to be a problem.”
Malone said Muncie has not had a community-wide gun violence initiative since 2015.
”We’ve always had concerns about this area and teenagers involved with handguns,” said Malone, whose niece attended the party. ”She just got out of surgery. She’s doing well. She’s whole. And then my godson was being treated out at Ball Hospital.”
Malone said he will meet with the city’s police leadership Monday morning to review the shooting and plans for keeping Muncie streets safe the rest of the summer.
”The mayor knows my push for gun violence, the lack of gun violence education, the lack of gun violence awareness, the lack of how to report gun violence in and out of our homes," Malone said. "There’s a way to report crime, there’s a way to report guns, and we just have to report guns in and out of our backpacks and homes.”
Muncie is about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis. The city is home to about 65,000 people.
