Student shot and killed outside KIPP Legacy High School

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A teenage student at KIPP Legacy High School was shot and killed Friday in a community center parking lot next to the school in what police say was a targeted shooting.

The student, who has not yet been identified, was walking home when he was shot just before 1 p.m. in the parking lot of the Edna Martin Christian Center’s Leadership and Legacy Center, both the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the school said Friday afternoon. 

Police have detained a teenage male suspect who they said is not a Legacy student.  

KIPP Legacy has a close relationship with the center, and uses space for extracurricular programming there. The community center also reserves parking spaces in its lot for KIPP staff. Both are fixtures of the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood. 

“We are in ongoing communication with the student’s family, and will continue to offer support during this extremely difficult time,” the school said in a Friday afternoon statement. “On Monday, we will have on-site supports available for students and staff as our school community processes this tragedy.”

Police said there was a disturbance at the school earlier in the day, which is being investigated, but did not elaborate further. But they said there is not enough information to conclude whether the two incidents were connected. No one else was injured in the shooting.

The homicide marks at least the fourth fatal shooting of a school-aged youth in less than two weeks in Indianapolis. One 15-year-old boy was found fatally shot on Oct. 21, and a 16-year-old girl was killed eight days later. Another 15-year-old girl was found fatally shot on Wednesday. 

“It’s unacceptable that as a community, we’ve had conversations about youth violence all week, and this is how our week ends,” said IMPD Commander Matt Thomas. “It’s unacceptable that we have families hurting.”

Mayor Joe Hogsett has responded to such shootings with concerns about the accessibility of guns. 

“This afternoon’s shooting of an Indianapolis teen is another example of the horrific combination of access to firearms and a failure of conflict resolution,” Hogsett said in a Friday statement. “No young person should have to worry about gun violence, let alone near a school.”

KIPP Legacy High School is a charter school within the Indianapolis Public Schools’ Innovation Network, and celebrated its first graduating class last spring. 

Police urge witnesses or others with information to call the IMPD homicide office at 317-327-3475 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477 to remain anonymous.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.