New Albany Police have identified an 18-year-old who was killed in a triple shooting during the annual Harvest Homecoming festival Saturday night.
Chief Todd Bailey said Bryce Andrew Gerlach, of Corydon, Indiana, was shot and killed in a “senseless act of violence.”
The other two victims wounded in the shooting, a 22-year-old man and a 42-year-old female, are still recovering at the hospital.
Police believe all three victims were innocent bystanders who were not related to the dispute that led to the shooting.
“Multiple gunshots” were reported at 9:53 p.m. Saturday in the area of State and Black, as well as the carnival/ride area of Harvest, Bailey said during a press briefing Sunday morning.
Police have learned through witnesses that there were likely multiple shooters firing from different locations, Bailey said.
While he couldn’t confirm an exact number of shooters, he said there were “at least two.”
Investigators initially thought the shots were only fired from the area behind the Scribner House at State and Main streets, and from the parking lot of the Floyd County YMCA, which is also located at State and Main streets.
Bailey said investigators believe there may have been another individual firing from within the carnival area.
Police believe there was a dispute between “at least two groups of individuals” that led to shots being fired.
After the shooting, Bailey said all suspects, described as Black males in their late teens to early 20s, fled the scene.
The police chief noted that at the time of the shooting, there were multiple employees, police officers and security personnel in “close proximity” to the area of the shooting who were able to immediately begin life-saving measures for those injured.
Bailey said several “persons of interest” have been identified, but further details about those individuals, or what may have led to their identification as a person of interest, are unavailable as the investigation is ongoing.
“At this point I will not speculate, editorialize anything regarding this event. Our primary responsibility is to identify and apprehend all suspects in this case,” the chief said.
When asked whether the suspects should still be considered at large and whether there is still a risk to the public, Bailey said “I would say yes.”
“The nature of what they did, the reckless nature of what they did, would lead any reasonable person to say yes, these are dangerous individuals,” he said. “Whereas we have not positively identified anyone yet, as soon as we do, we will release that publicly.”
In a statement released Sunday, New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan shared his condolences and said his thoughts and prayers were with the families impacted by Saturday’s shooting.