After over a dozen shootings involving IMPD officers in 2023, protestors demand change

Indianapolis, Indiana – Protesters supported the families of three individuals who died in separate incidents at the hands of IMPD police on Saturday. At one shooting scene, they assembled and demanded responsibility.

This occurred just one day after another man on the northeast side was shot by police.

Frederick Davis, 37, was shot and killed by IMPD police on October 26 following a fight inside a Burger King. Since August 1st, there have been ten shootings involving officers, but that wasn’t the final one.

“My nephew, to me, was murdered unjustly, and I’m not going away,” said Sharon Cannon, Davis’ aunt. “I’ll be at every rally. Wherever I can be at, I’m going to be there because I’m his voice.”

As police attempted to arrest Davis, a brawl broke out, according to an IMPD news release from that evening. According to IMPD, Davis took hold of an officer’s gun, threatened to kill him, and then shot the officer in the leg. After then, the policeman used his backup service gun to shoot Davis.

“Justice looks like us seeing the body cam,” Cannon said. “Justice looks like seeing the footage from these other businesses around here. That’s what justice looks like.”

According to Cannon, her nephew experienced mental health issues.

“If we would’ve had somebody out here that day that was trained to deal with mentally ill patients, we might be writing a different script right now,” Cannon said.

During the demonstration, many stories were recounted, including Davis’. The name Gary Harrell was on a lot of signs. After being shot in the back while evading police, Harrell passed away in August.

“We have our microphone, we have our placards,” organizer Stephen Lane said at the protest. “We really just want to give a voice to the voiceless.”

The demonstration organizers stated that Herman Whitfield III’s family is also demanding change. Involuntary manslaughter charges were brought against two IMPD officers following Whitfield’s death during a mental health crisis in the previous year. He is heard saying, “I can’t breathe,” on body camera footage while he is arrested on the ground by the police.

“A lot of people here are sick and tired of what’s happening with our public safety system,” Lane said.

The IMPD is being pressed by protestors to make uncut body camera footage of Davis’s death available. Attendees also called for action from elected leaders to stop more police-related killings. A separate shooting incident Friday morning marked the 15th shooting involving an IMPD officer this year.