INDIANAPOLIS — On Halloween night, 17-year-old Deshawn Gilbert was found shot and killed in the middle of the road in a neighborhood on the far east side of Indianapolis.
"My daughter came down the stairs and told me, she says, 'Don't you see all those flashing lights out there?' And I said, 'What?' And I saw the lights. I came out, and when I came out, I saw the young men on the ground, and everybody was huddled over him," said one neighbor who wished to remain anonymous.
She came outside to see what was going on. Unfortunately, she soon realized Gilbert had died after he was shot around 7:30 p.m. Oct. 31 in the 11500 block of Brook Crossing Lane, which is in a neighborhood near East 21st Street and North Cumberland Road.
"It hurt me to my heart because, you know, this is somebody's child, you know, and being a mom myself, it just, it just hurt, I says, and to take away from a holiday for the children," the neighbor said.
"There was babies out here. It was a two minutes on my camera that there was a little toddler at my door getting candy. What if this child was out here? Why this was going on?"
Police are wondering the same thing.
"Halloween is supposed to be a time where you're out with your family and having fun, and it's a great time for the kids. To have a violent, tragic event happen in their neighborhood really is very disturbing." IMPD Captain Rob Rider said.
IMPD says they don't have a suspect yet. They are speaking with neighbors who have doorbell camera footage. 13News saw multiple doorbell cameras near the scene. One neighbor said they handed the footage over to police in order to help the investigation.
"I don't feel real good about it. I mean, because, you know, I know it's going to end up being probably young people just like him, so it's going to affect another family." the neighbor said.
Now, a family is left to grieve their son and brother after what should have been a holiday meant for fun.
On Nov. 1, Warren Central confirmed that Gilbert had been a student, in his senior year of high school.