INDIANAPOLIS — A gas station near East 10th and North Rural streets on Indianapolis' near east side was surrounded by police after a deadly shooting that was caught on camera early Wednesday.
Around 4:30 a.m. July 3, responding officers found a man critically injured in the parking lot of a gas station near that intersection. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
On Friday, the Marion County Coroner's Office identified the victim as 45-year-old Leon Motley.
Some of those living near the intersection say that's just the tip of the iceberg.
"You know, it's an up-and-coming area, but the crime rate and the drugs and the prostitution, all of that is really bad. I'm barely home because of it, honestly," said Nakia, who lives nearby.
Kitt Mann and her husband, Tom, say they don't feel safe walking down the street in the daytime, let alone at night.
"I carry this. He's got three knives on him. I carry this with me during the day. We don't go out after dark. I only go out in the front yard to take my little dog out. We don't go walking around at nighttime. We can't," said Kit Mann, who has lived in the neighborhood a little over a year.
13News reached out to City-County Councilor Jesse Brown about the amount of crime in his district.
While he wasn't available, Brown sent some valuable insight, like how his ZIP code, 46218, has the lowest life expectancy in central Indiana.
He shared the following statement:
"In District 13, as across Indianapolis, we have a deep and widening gulf between those who have the least and those who have the most. Even more concerning, this socioeconomic gap often plays out along race lines. As of late 2021, The Indianapolis Housing Partnership shared that the median household net worth of a white family was $188,200. The median household net worth of a Black-led family was $24,100.
My zip code, 46218, has the lowest life expectancy in central Indiana - 17 years less life to live than in Fishers, only a few miles away. Gun violence is just one of the many manifestations of despair caused by poverty and inequality. When people have enough wealth to feel they have something to lose and enough opportunities to feel like they have something to gain, they are naturally far less likely to resort to violence, drugs, and prostitution as means of claiming agency over a world that feels out of their control.
There are no quick fixes that will effectively stop this generations-old problem - but I am here to stand beside my constituents for the long fight to create a society where everyone has enough to survive, where everyone feels safe, and where everyone gets to grow old surrounded by their families, rather than bleed to death tragically at a gas station."
"I think we need to get more officers to just patrol. I don't think that really, in the times we're living in right now, there's not really anything we can do but pray. Really," said Nakia.
13News reached out to IMPD to find out if they've stepped up patrols in the area due to the amount crime.
An IMPD spokesperson said officers self-dispatch within that area to ensure a police presence is observed by the community.
"The IMPD East District officers continue to, as they have for the past several years, proactively self-dispatch themselves within that area to ensure police presence is observed by community members and to ensure that the IMPD is being forward in their approach to reducing criminal activity in that area," read the statement from IMPD.
When the 13News crew was in the area, they reported seeing at least three officers driving around.
Currently, IMPD says they're still looking for the person responsible for Wednesday morning's shooting.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact Det. Christopher Morgan at the IMPD Homicide Office at 317-327-3475 or email Christopher.Morgan@indy.gov. Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477.