INDIANAPOLIS — While police continue to learn more about the shooting at a Halloween party Sunday morning, they are stressing the importance of safety as teens head out for Halloween Tuesday.
Police said teens should be fully aware of what is going on around them and stick to a crowd throughout the night. This is a night police said anything could happen, and communication between parents and teens is vital.
"It's very important for a loved one to know where you are. It just helps to ensure you're safe, and we can get help to you if it's needed. It's also important that you are very safe when you are out, and you make good choices when you are out," IMPD Ofc. Samone Burris said.
Burris encourages parents to have a conversation with teens before they walk out of the door if they are heading to trick-or-treat or to a party.
"It should sound like 'Keep your phone on, keep your location on,'" Burris said. "It should sound like, 'Make sure you are aware of your surroundings, make sure you are making good decisions and make sure you are safe at all times.'"
It's a conversation Kareem Hines, founder of New B.O.Y., wants parents to have, too. Many of the teens he mentors were at the shooting this weekend and wants every teen in Indianapolis to feel safe when they go out.
"It's not that parents are trying to be helicopter parents, parents just don't want to get that phone call 10 of them had to get Sunday morning," he said.
Other things police want parents to do is have their teen's location and watch it throughout the night. Police know there are many ways to make sure teens are safe on Halloween — parents need to know what's best for them.