2 Teenage Boys Dead, 5 People Injured in Indianapolis Mass Shooting After Fourth of July Celebrations

Two teenage boys were killed and five other people were injured in a mass shooting in downtown Indianapolis, just hours after the city’s Fourth of July fireworks display.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) was responding to a disturbance at around 1:30 a.m. local time on Saturday, July 5, when authorities were notified of another disturbance in the area of Illinois and Washington Street and heard “shots fired” while approaching, deputy chief of operations Tanya Terry confirmed in a preliminary statement hours later.

Authorities then discovered “several people” with gunshot wounds on the scene, before emergency services transported the victims to local hospitals for treatment. One person also later brought themself to a hospital.

Two people died as a result of the shooting — a 16-year-old boy who was pronounced dead at the scene and a 15-year-old boy who was pronounced dead after being hospitalized, the IMPD confirmed in an update during a press conference later in the afternoon of July 5.

The shooting victims range in age from 15 to 21, Chief Christopher Bailey announced.

“We should all be shaken by what occurred,” Bailey said in a statement on July 5.

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“We cannot grow numb to the violence in our community, wherever it occurs,” he added. “And we cannot accept this as normal. I stand here today angry, heartbroken, frustrated because too many lives are being lost, too many families are grieving and too many young people are growing up around violence and trauma.”

Terry confirmed on July 5 that multiple firearms were found at the scene, but authorities did not know if they were used in the shooting. Seven people were detained for further questioning, she added.

Police have not identified the victims or announced any suspects.

A spokesperson for the IMPD did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for further information on July 5.

Bailey confirmed during the afternoon press conference that approximately 20 people were arrested overnight for various reasons. He added, per NBC affiliate WTHR, that authorities were initially responding to a group fighting about a half block away from where the shooting took place.

The shooting followed the city’s annual Fourth Fest, which featured live performances and concluded with a 20-minute fireworks show starting at 10:15 p.m.

Mayor Joe Hogsett wrote in a statement shared on X that gun violence was “unacceptable” and officials would be “taking steps to begin active enforcement of the curfew for young people in our city’s downtown.”

“Today, two families are having to grapple with the most unimaginable pain of finding out they will never see their child again,” he added. “Several families had to get the call that no parent should ever have to get that their child was shot and injured.”

Per The Indianapolis Star, this marks the second consecutive weekend of violence in Indianapolis, following last weekend’s shootings that left seven dead and nine injured.