Was race or ethnicity a factor in latest mass killing in US?

INDIANAPOLIS • At least four of the eight victims of the latest mass shooting in the US were part of the local Sikh community in Indianapolis, many of them drawn to the area by jobs at places like the FedEx warehouse that was attacked.

The seemingly targeted attack on Thursday have raised questions about whether the gunman was in any way racially or ethnically motivated.

The New York-based Sikh Coalition, which describes itself as the largest Sikh civil rights organisation in the United States, said it expected the authorities to "conduct a full investigation - including the possibility of bias as a factor".

The gunman has been identified by law enforcement officials as Brandon Scott Hole, a 19-year-old who used to work at the warehouse, and who was already on law enforcement radar.

Police on Friday also identified the victims as Mr Matthew Alexander, 32; Ms Samaria Blackwell, 19; Mr Amarjeet Johal, 66; Mr Jaswinder Kaur, 64; Mr Jaswinder Singh, 68; Mr Amarjit Sekhon, 48; Ms Karli Smith, 19; and Mr John Weisert, 74.

Deputy chief Craig McCartt of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police told reporters that the rampage unfolded in "just a couple of minutes".

Around 11pm, the gunman arrived at the facility, a huge warehouse lined with truck docks sitting a few kilometres from the Indianapolis airport.

There were at least 100 people inside around that time, said Mr McCartt. It was a shift change, a pause in the night when some head home and others walk out into the parking lot to smoke, have a bite to eat or listen to music in their cars.

Armed with a rifle, the gunman "got out of his car and pretty quickly started some random shooting", he said. "There was no confrontation with anyone who was there, there was no disturbance, there was no argument. He just appeared to randomly start shooting."

Officers found the suspect dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said Hole had been placed under psychiatric detention last year after his mother reported concerns that he might commit "suicide by cop".

A shotgun was seized from his residence, and based on "items observed in the suspect's bedroom at that time", he was interviewed by the FBI in April last year, FBI Indianapolis special agent-in-charge Paul Keenan said in a statement.

"No racially motivated violent extremism ideology" was identified during that assessment, and no criminal violation was found, but the shotgun was not returned, Mr Keenan said.

The massacre is the most recent in a series of mass shootings in the country that has again pushed the issue of gun violence to the political foreground.

Indianapolis - the capital of the Midwestern state of Indiana - alone has seen two mass shootings this year.

In January, police say a teenager shot and killed four family members and a pregnant woman.

Thursday's gun violence at the FedEx centre was the second mass shooting in recent weeks targeting workplaces employing a high concentration of people of Asian descent.

The recent surge in mass shootings began on March 16, when a gunman shot dead eight people, including six Asian woman, at three Atlanta-area day spas before he was arrested.

Reacting to the latest tragedy, US President Joe Biden ordered flags at federal buildings to be lowered to half staff and reiterated his call for Congress to pass tougher gun restrictions.

"Too many Americans are dying every single day from gun violence," he said. "It stains our character and pierces the very soul of our nation."

There have been 147 mass shootings this year, defined as incidents in which at least four people are shot, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit website that tracks firearm-related incidents.

NYTIMES, REUTERS