Investigation by Police, FBI and DOJ Finds No Racial Bias in FedEx Facility Rampage in Indianapolis

Officials at the Indianapolis Metro Police Department (IMPD) and other law enforcement agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of Indiana have revealed “no indication of racial bias” in the deadly April 15 shooting at the FedEx ground facility in Indianapolis, where four Sikh Americans were among eight killed. 

Amarjeet Kaur Johal, 66; Jaswinder Singh, 70; Amarjeet Sekhon, 49; and Jasvinder Kaur, 50, were among eight lives that were cut short by Brandon Scott Hole, a 19-year-old former employee, who went on a shooting rampage on April 15. Hole was later found dead in what is believed to be a suicide nearby.

As per FBI Special Agent in Charge Paul Keenan, the authorities have determined that this shooting was “an act of suicidal murder” not driven by any particular ideology. Keenan was speaking at a July 28 press conference to announce the conclusion of their investigation into the shooting. 

Law enforcement officials admitted that they will never know ‘the why’ behind the shooting. “Only the shooter knows all the reasons why he committed this horrific act of violence,” Keenan said. “However, at this time, the FBI is confident that, based on the evidence collected, the assessment of the Behavioral Analysis Unit is accurate and the shooter did not appear to have been motivated by bias or a desire to advance an ideology.”

This FedEx facility was known as the ‘Desi FedEx’ or the ‘Punjabi FedEx’ because of the number of people from the community working there, a prominent member of the Sikh American community from Indianapolis, who did to want to be identified, told American Kahani. “Even the leadership here is mainly Punjabi, so communication was never a barrier [for the Sikh and Punjabi people working here].” 

About 10,000 Sikh Americans have made Indiana their home over the past 50 years, with most living in Hendricks County and the Southside of Indianapolis.  

The killings sent shockwaves within the community, with many recalling the tragic hate crimes committed on Sikh Americans since Sept. 11. 2011. Although the motive of the gunman is unknown, local leaders told American Kahani at the time that Hole’s actions generated fear similar to what many Sikhs felt after the Sept. 11 attacks, when they were confused for Muslims, and after a 2012 rampage by a white supremacist, who killed six people at a gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. 

Although the motive of the gunman is unknown, local leaders told American Kahani at the time that Hole’s actions generated fear similar to what many Sikhs felt after the Sept. 11 attacks, when they were confused for Muslims.

Anecdotes from family members and friends show the human side of those killed. Some were interrelated through marriages, like Kaur and Sekhon, who commuted to work at the FedEx facility together, the Sikh American source said. Kaur moved to the United States from India three years ago, while Sekhon moved to Indianapolis from Ohio to be closer to family. They were both killed in the parking lot. Singh and Johal were killed inside the facility.

Singh had just started working at the FedEx facility this week and had told everyone how excited he was to get his first paycheck, the source said. He was working the night shift sorting mail. Singh had moved to Indianapolis from California and lived with his son in the suburb of Homecoming. Singh also volunteered at a local gurudwara, according to The New York Times. When Singh’s son told his father that he doesn’t need to work at the Fedex, Singh replied that he liked to work there because being with his community members made him happy, said the source, recalling a conversation between the father and son. 

At the July 26 press conference officials discussed the conclusions of their investigation. IMPD Deputy Chief Craig McCartt added that the investigation has reviewed “every piece of information available.” Based on interviews and documents reviewed by investigators in the months prior to the attack, the shooter’s suicidal thoughts occurred almost daily, they said, adding that Hole had attempted suicide on more than one occasion. The shooter had no previously diagnosed mental illness but had struggled with mental health stressors throughout his life.

IMPD officials also disclosed that Hole had considered “other targets for an attack but chose the FedEx location because he was familiar with it and the pattern of activity at the site.” He also believed he had identified a vulnerability that would give him unobscured access to many potential victims, they said. 

Immediately prior to the shooting, IMPD investigators said they had learned that the shooter entered the FedEx building and spoke with security. “He exited out of the facility and returned to his vehicle in the parking lot and recovered two weapons, later identified as a Ruger AR-556 and a HM Defense HM15F,” they said. 

While the shooter was walking back to the employee entrance, he shot and killed one employee outside. He then re-entered the business for a second time and immediately began firing his weapons at employees inside the entry area. At that point, the shooter was unable to go further into the facility but fired several shots at victims beyond the security gate. The shooter then exited the building and continued shooting in the parking lot, striking several more victims. The suspect re-entered the business a final time and took his own life.

During this incident, an employee was able to recover a personal gun from his vehicle and fired a round at the shooter in the parking lot, then fled the area for safety and called 911. “This was a call that no police department, no agency, no law enforcement officer ever wants to respond to. While this concludes our investigation, we will always remain focused on what is most important: the eight members of our community who lost their lives because of this senseless act,” said IMPD Chief Randal Taylor said.

The Sikh Coalition issued a statement following the press conference. “While we recognize that it is impossible to know exactly what was in the shooter’s mind, we are disappointed that the IMPD and FBI still have not detailed how they ruled out bias as a possible motive in their accounting of the investigation,” said Sikh Coalition legal director Amrith Kaur. She noted that “for months,” the Sikh Coalition has “asked local and federal law enforcement for a thorough and transparent investigation of this horrific attack–including their best effort to attempt to understand the shooter’s motive.”

While it will never be known why the shooter “ chose a place known for hiring people of color, specifically a Punjabi Sikh-majority, for his attack,” she said it now known that “e attack was planned at least nine months in advance.” Referring to the previous reporting of finding “white nationalist content on the shooter’s computer during their investigation of his home a year before the shooting,” Kaur noted how the topic wasn’t discussed at the press conference until a reporter asked about it. “Keenan recognized that an ‘extremely small percentage’ of the content found on the shooter’s computer dealt with World War II and Nazi-related content, but rather than address the obvious interest in that ideology, he said there ‘was no indication of any animosity against the Sikh community or any other community,’” Kaur said. 

Noting that the coalition is not dismissing that mental health issues nor the toxic masculinity discussed during the press conference played a role in this attack, Kaur stressed the importance to recognize that bias can be a factor in addition to these other issues We still believe that the IMPD and FBI could have provided more information about how and why they ruled bias out, and been far more forthcoming and transparent about relevant details during this press conference and throughout the course of their investigation. Though law enforcement has said this investigation is over, for all the families who lost loved ones, the survivors, the Sikh community, and anyone else impacted by hate violence, these questions will remain forever.”