Man dead in near west side shooting

INDIANAPOLIS – A man died in a Thursday morning shooting on the near west side.

Indianapolis Metropolitan police were dispatched around 5:15 a.m. to the 3800 block of W. Michigan St. for a reported shooting.

Officers found a man lying on the ground suffering from injuries consistent with gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

On Friday, officials with the Marion County Coroner’s Office identified the person who died as 24-year-old Steven Dortch.

A woman at the scene told FOX59/CBS4 that she witnessed the shooting and called 911. The witness said she saw the victim collapse in the parking lot.

Tommy Thompson, a public information officer for IMPD, said officers detained a person of interest and were questioning that individual. The person of interest was later released pending further investigation.

“This is again, just violence that’s tragic,” Thompson said. “It’s too often, and the families—I feel for them. We continue to repeat how hard this has to be on the families and I just, I can’t fathom what everyone’s going through. It’s just disappointing.”

Thompson said police were still gathering evidence and information. He expected the scene to remain active for some time and said investigators recovered a firearm.

He lamented that once again it appeared people turned to violence to resolve a conflict.

“We’re not using conflict resolution, we’re not talking, we’re not removing ourselves from conflicts and we’re bringing firearms in too many instances into disturbances and conflicts,” Thompson said.

Police were asking neighbors to check if they had any surveillance video of the shooting. Anyone with information should contact IMPD or Crime Stoppers.

IMPD said there was no indication the incident was connected to a shooting on Wednesday near the same location.

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