INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis man is in jail accused of shooting a complete stranger inside a laundromat on Indy’s northwest side.
The shooting took place Sunday afternoon at a coin operated laundromat near 79th and Michigan.
The victim had his hip shattered after being shot by another customer.
According to court records, multiple eye witnesses cooperated with police and helped identify the accused shooter.
Those witnesses told police the suspect simply got mad because people were in his way doing laundry.
Police later interviewed the victim who survived his injuries at St. Vincent Hospital. He told detectives he was just doing laundry when he was shot by a man he had never seen before. The victim said the whole situation was crazy and should not have happened because he was just doing laundry.
“This is one of those cases that was extremely senseless,” said IMPD officer William Young.
For their part, police praised several witnesses for helping them track down the accused gunman, 54-year-old John Walker.
One witness told police after shooting the victim Walker calmly took his laundry out of the dryer then walked to the parking lot and tossed the handgun underneath a car where it was recovered by police.
According to the affidavit, a second witness told police she knew the suspect because they’d been friends. She gave police Walker’s name and admitted he had a short temper.
A third witness who was also inside doing laundry at the time claimed the victim didn’t do anything to intentionally irritate the suspect and wrote down the license plate of the car the suspect drove away in.
Police say unfortunately so much violence in the city is driven by people’s inability to control their anger.
“We hope you get the message that conflict resolution is important. Walk away. Talk to somebody,” said IMPD officer William Young. “Whatever you can think to avoid getting hurt or hurting someone. We’re hoping that cooler heads prevail.”
On March 29, 2023, John Walker was apprehended by the IMPD Violent Crimes Unit at 3614 E 25th St and transported to the Aggravated Assault office for an interview. Walker refused to make a statement.
The suspect is being held on a preliminary charge of aggravated battery. Formal charges are still pending.