INDIANAPOLIS — IMPD is investigating after a man was fatally stabbed in downtown Indianapolis Wednesday evening.
Officers responded to a report of a disturbance at the Indiana Convention Center shortly before 6:30 p.m. Sept. 11. As an officer neared the location, he was flagged down by people at Illinois and South streets, south of the convention center. Those people pointed the officer to a 33-year-old man who they said had stabbed someone in the convention center.
Another officer who was in the area responded to the convention center and found a victim in a second floor hallway. That person, also a man, was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries.
The Marion County Coroner's Office identified the deceased as 58-year-old Alan Ray Gosnell.
Detectives are working with employees of the convention center to review potential video evidence, as well as what they may have witnessed. It is not known if Gosnell and the suspect knew one another.
According to court documents, one witnesses told police they saw the suspect beating Gosnell before strangling him with some type of cable or wire. The suspect then said, according to the witness, "Yeah I killed him, I didn't kill no one else, just him. He deserved it. He had a knife in his hand."
The witness told police they did not see Gosnell with any weapons, and that the witness followed the suspect as he left the scene. The suspect threatened to kill the witness as the witness followed him, the witness told detectives.
"Don't approach that individual. Make sure you get the dispatcher. Or, if you see that officer, make sure you give a good description, direction of travel of where they may be, their last known location, if they're carrying any weapons," IMPD Officer William Young said.
Other witnesses also identified the suspect as the attacker, according to court documents.
Detectives were told Gosnell was a worker at the Convention Center, according to the documents.
The detective wrote that when speaking with police, the suspect stated he was with the U.S. Military and CIA and had "just neutralized an international terrorist nuclear threat."
Police arrested the suspect on a preliminary charge of murder. The Marion County Prosecutor's Office will make the final charging decision.
Police said the incident appears to be isolated and there is no threat to the area.
"Our officers will continue to be a presence as we were prior to this. Again, officers were fairly close when this particular incident happened. We had off-duty officers working near the convention center, as well as our beat officers who work downtown," Young said.
Police said workers were in the convention center after a convention had ended earlier in the day.
Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact the IMPD Homicide Office at 317-327-3475 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-TIPS (8477).
Statement from the Indiana Convention Center:
"Al Gosnell, a beloved employee of the Capital Improvement Board, lost his life last night in a senseless act of violence. Al worked with us for more than ten years and was a great friend to his colleagues. Our CIB family mourns his loss, and we hold his family in our hearts.
We are grateful to our downtown district IMPD officers for quickly apprehending the suspect. IMPD has assured us that there is no further threat inside the building. We are working in close coordination with IMPD to support their investigation.
Because the incident is still under investigation, we are not able to provide additional information at this time."