Former FedEx worker kills 8 people at Indianapolis facility

A 19-year-old former employee of FedEx Corp. gunned down eight people at a company facility near the Indianapolis airport and then killed himself with a rifle.

Authorities identified the gunman as Brandon Scott Hole of Indiana, according to the Associated Press, citing two law-enforcement officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Hole worked for FedEx’s ground unit at the facility he targeted, a company spokeswoman said.

In an incident that lasted just a couple of minutes, the gunman opened fire with a rifle in the parking lot and then continued to shoot as he entered the building, killing eight workers before shooting himself, authorities said. Police offered no details on the rifle that was used.

At least five people were sent to hospitals, with one sustaining critical wounds, the AP reported. The gunman killed himself shortly before police entered the building, Craig McCartt, a deputy chief of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, said in a televised news conference.

“He got out of his car and then pretty quickly started random shooting outside the facility,” he said. “There was no confrontation with anyone that was there. There was no disturbance. There was no argument. He just appeared to randomly start shooting.”

FedEx confirmed that eight “team members” were killed but didn’t immediately say if they were direct employees or hired by contractors that deliver packages for the Memphis, Tennessee-based courier. The company said it is cooperating with the investigation.

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by the loss of our team members following the tragic shooting,” FedEx said in a statement. “Our most heartfelt sympathies are with all those affected by this senseless act of violence.”

The company in 2018 expressed support for restricting possession of assault weapons to the military, saying that they present “an inherent potential danger” to schools, workplaces, and communities.

Yet FedEx has contributed to politicians who oppose a ban on semiautomatic rifles, including U.S. Senate candidates Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, who lost their Georgia runoff races in January. The company contributed to the campaign of Bill Hagerty, who won a U.S. Senate seat in Tennessee last year while opposing an assault-rifle ban and increased background checks.

FedEx said Friday there has been no change in its stance on assault rifles or political contributions and declined to comment further.

The incident adds to a wave of recent mass shootings across the U.S., including one that killed 10 people at a Boulder, Colorado, supermarket; eight gunned down at massage businesses in the Atlanta area; and a pregnant women among five people shot dead in January in Indianapolis, the AP said.