Police said gunfire broke out outside Antioch Baptist Church during a crowded funeral service on the city’s north side.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN — One man was killed and another was critically wounded after a shooting outside an Indianapolis church during a funeral service Saturday morning, police said, sending mourners into confusion and leaving investigators searching for the shooter.
The shooting happened outside Antioch Baptist Church on East 32nd Street just before 10 a.m., according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. The violence interrupted what church leaders said should have been a day of mourning and remembrance. By Saturday evening, police had not announced any arrests, had not publicly identified a suspect and had not released the name of the man who died.
IMPD North District officers were sent to the 700 block of East 32nd Street at about 9:55 a.m. on a report of a person shot. When officers arrived, they found two people with gunshot wounds outside the church. Emergency crews took both men to a hospital in critical condition. Police later said one of the victims died from his injuries, while the other remained in critical condition. Investigators said a disturbance outside the building led to the shooting while a funeral attended by a large crowd was taking place inside. Sgt. William Young of IMPD said the case was especially troubling because shots were fired at a church during “a solemn ceremony such as a funeral.”
Authorities have released only a limited public account of what happened in the minutes before the gunfire. Police said the shooting followed a disturbance outside the building, but they had not said by Saturday night how many people were involved in that confrontation, whether the shooter was among the mourners, or what started the dispute. Officers also had not said whether the two men who were shot were attending the funeral or were connected to the service in some other way. The Marion County Coroner’s Office was expected to identify the man who died after relatives were notified. The surviving victim remained hospitalized in critical condition, and police did not release an updated medical summary beyond that condition report.
The scene underscored how quickly a community gathering can shift from grief to violence. Antioch Baptist Church had opened its doors for a funeral service, and church leaders said the sanctuary was filled with people who came to support a grieving family. Instead, the family and other mourners were forced to absorb another shock outside the church walls. The Rev. Dr. Clyde Posley Jr., senior pastor of Antioch Fountain of Grace Baptist Church, said the attack disrupted a family’s grief and shook a congregation that sees itself as a community church. He said the church regularly hosts funerals as part of that mission and that Saturday’s violence felt like an assault on a sacred purpose, not only on the people who were shot.
Investigators were still processing the scene hours after the shooting. Police said the Indianapolis-Marion County Forensic Services Agency was working to identify and collect possible evidence. That step usually includes documenting the scene, collecting shell casings and other physical evidence, and helping detectives reconstruct what happened. The case was being handled as a homicide investigation after one victim died. No charges had been announced Saturday, and police had not said whether detectives had identified a person of interest. The absence of an arrest left open several major questions, including where the shooter went after the gunfire and whether witnesses at the funeral were able to give investigators a clear description.
Church leaders and police both framed the shooting as an attack on a family already in mourning. Posley said the congregation was hurting for the family and for the church itself. He said the ministry would not be deterred by violence. Young said officers were praying for the victims and for justice in the case. Their comments reflected the emotional weight of the setting: a funeral service where mourners had gathered to honor one loss and instead found themselves at the center of another. Even with that grief, officials kept the public message focused on the investigation and on the need to identify the person responsible.
As of Saturday night, the case remained open, one victim was dead, another was in critical condition and police had not announced an arrest. The next major developments are expected to be the public identification of the man who died, possible updates on the surviving victim’s condition and any announcement from detectives about suspects or charges.
Author note: Last updated March 22, 2026.