INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Metro Police say they are stepping up patrols along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street on the northwest side after five people got shot and injured there early Sunday.
Officers are not just concerned about that violent incident, but also what they call dangerous cruising and reckless driving by cars in that same area.
On Sundays, more than churchgoers are coming to the section of MLK near 29th Street. And people who live, pray and patrol that area say the crowds are causing trouble.
"It seems like shots are fired almost every Sunday and then police have to try to come in and clean it up," said Rev. Charles Harrison, whose church is on Indy's northwest side.
Sunday around 1 a.m., police say a fight at a gathering near a couple of empty lots on 29th Street escalated into gunfire.
Four women and a man were shot and hurt, ranging in age from 25 to 51.
According to police reports, detectives recovered a pistol, a handgun and shell casings from the crime scene.
The victims, who walked into area hospitals on their own, are expected to be OK.
But neighbors say what's happening in their neighborhood is not OK.
They say they've seen it over and over at this intersection: bullets hitting their homes, fighting, people who don't live here coming in and bringing violence to their street.
And that's not all.
"We need to get a handle on this because it's not just what happened Sunday morning, it's what's happening on MLK from about 25th Street to 29th Street every Sunday," Harrison said.
Police and pastors say what's happening on Sunday nights is crowds cruising along MLK, which leads to confrontations and violence.
It's more than just driving.
Police say the cars are clogging the road and causing chaos.
"They usually come from Riverside Park. Then when the park closes, a lot of those individuals and others not even from the area, go over to MLK and drive around. Oftentimes we see people on the roofs or hoods of cars," said IMPD Lt. Shane Foley. "There's spinning activities, reckless driving and at times we've seen fights and even shots fired in that area."
"They're there, they're here, they're turning around and then going back. It's people from outside the area," Harrison added. "The traffic is so bad, you can't get through. You can't just decide to park your car in the middle of the street so no one can get through."
This past Sunday night, things escalated.
Police say their own patrol cars got attacked, while cars were cruising.
"Individuals surrounded a police car," Foley said. "There was another one where people were attempting to vandalize a police car. Our officers had to call in other officers from other districts to break things up."
"So when I got here last night, police were everywhere," Harrison said.
IMPD says it's now increasing patrols along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street.
Foley said they're also coming up with a plan to clear the chaos that neighbors say has gotten way too dangerous.
"They drive slowly. They do spinouts. People are on top of cars. Oftentimes we see a lot of guns, which is not necessarily illegal. But when you have a lot of people with a lot of guns, and there's disturbances, potential for violent crime increases," Foley said.
As for the five people shot, IMPD says right now, they don't have any suspects.
They are asking anyone who may have witnessed what happened or who has surveillance video from Sunday morning, to give them a call.
You can also call Crime Stoppers at 317-262-TIPS and remain anonymous.