Indiana's red flag law didn't stop fatal FedEx mass shooting. Has anything changed in a year?

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MARION COUNTY, Ind. — Failures in executing Indiana's "red flag" law played a critical role in allowing the worst shooting in Indianapolis history.

A year later, many of those shortcomings have been addressed. Other factors, however, threaten to undermine those gains and leave people at risk.

The law is intended to keep firearms away from dangerous people. It allows police to seize a gun from someone they believe poses a risk of injury to themselves or others, regardless of whether a crime has been committed.

The law was touted as a national model after the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Nineteen states have now adopted some version.

But the law failed to stop the man who fatally shot eight people and wounded at least five others at a FedEx facility near the Indianapolis International Airport on April 15, 2021. 

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Indianapolis police had seized a shotgun from the shooter a year earlier after his mother warned police that he had threatened suicide by cop, but prosecutors did not file a "red flag" case with court. Had they done so, the shooter may have been prevented from purchasing the two AR 15-style rifles he used to carry out the killings at FedEx.

The failure drew criticism from the local police union president to the U.S. Capitol.

"In Indianapolis, had it been used, I think it could have saved those eight lives," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said during a hearing on red flag laws in April.

An investigation by the IndyStar, part of the Paste BN Network, later found a Marion County prosecutor and his deputies failed to file more than 100 red flag cases and allowed others to languish for months or years. The delays exacerbated a dangerous gap in the law that allows people to legally purchase new firearms while their red flag case is pending. 

The results, too often, were tragic.

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Over five years, at least 14 people were killed and eight injured in shootings that may have been prevented if not for flaws in the law and authorities' reluctance to use its full power.

Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears, a Democrat who is up for election in November, continues to face criticism from Republicans for not using the law against the FedEx shooter.

"As we reflect on this event in the coming days, let’s remember the fact that if Prosecutor Mears had attempted to use Indiana’s Red Flag Law, this tragedy could have been prevented," Marion County Republican Party Chairman Joe Elsener wrote in an email blast Tuesday.

But that criticism comes amid increasing opposition to red flag laws from Republicans, who refused calls to fix the gap in the law earlier this year.

FedEx shooting prompts red flag changes

In the year since the FedEx shooting, Marion County officials have made significant improvements to the red flag process.

Presiding Marion Superior Judge Amy Jones implemented the biggest change. Police are now required to submit red flag cases directly to the court anytime they seize a gun under the law, effectively bypassing the prosecutor's office. 

If prosecutors don't believe a case should be pursued, they have to dismiss it, rather than deciding not to file it in the first place. 

All the change does is bring practices in line with the law, which says police are supposed to submit their reasons for believing someone is dangerous to the court for a hearing within 14 days or as close as possible. 

The impact of the change, however, has been dramatic. Before the change, only about a third of IMPD's gun seizure cases were being filed with the court. Now, it's closer to 90%. 

Those cases are also being filed and heard more quickly. Cases are being filed within two or three days of a gun seizure. It used to take nearly a month on average. And they're being resolved within weeks, as opposed to months or years. 

At least 36 people were reported to the FBI's background check system in the first five months after the FedEx shooting. Prior to the shooting, not a single person was reported as a result of a red flag gun seizure. 

More aggressive enforcement

Other factors have also contributed to more aggressive enforcement.

Before the FedEx shooting, the prosecutor's office typically declined to pursue a red flag case when the person whose guns were seized was charged with a crime; however, that practice failed to take into account that while domestic abuse and felony convictions result in firearms prohibitions, such cases are often dismissed or pleaded down, allowing the person to once again legally possess guns. 

Now, prosecutors in Marion County are filing red flag cases alongside criminal cases.

Mears also directed more resources to red flag cases — at least for a while.

Around the time of the shooting, Mears appointed a veteran prosecutor, Andrew Wignall, to focus exclusively on red flag cases full-time. 

Wignall inherited boxes full of disorganized records. Some cases were unresolved after months or years with no explanation. He got the old cases on the court's calendar and began chipping away at them over the summer until he got them caught up.

Wignall also improved the office's work with IMPD, lining up officers each week to testify — something that Jones said was lacking previously, causing unnecessary delays. The improved cooperation allowed hearings to move forward even if the person whose guns were seized didn't show up, which is common.

Lessons learned — and forgotten?

Wignall left the prosecutor's office in January for a new job with the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission. To the surprise of some police officers, Mears has not replaced him with a prosecutor dedicated full-time to red flag cases. 

The job has fallen instead to Wignall's former supervisor, Rob Beatson. Beatson is familiar with red flag cases, but has many other duties at the prosecutor's office. 

Mears declined an interview request for this story, but a spokesman for the office defended the decision in an emailed response.

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"The process in which these cases are now handled is more efficient for the involved parties, including prosecutors," Michael Leffler said. "The Court holds these hearings weekly and they are often tried without the respondents present which creates more consistency when it comes to caseload management."

Leffler said Beatson is the "lead firearms expert within the office" and has "significant experience" with red flag cases.  

So far, the problems that previously plagued the red flag process do not appear to have re-emerged, despite the lack of a dedicated full-time prosecutor. 

On a recent Wednesday, Beatson handled a docket of six red flag cases, including some where the target had also been charged criminally. He had officers ready to testify and secured three dangerous findings. That means those people will be prohibited from possessing or purchasing guns for at least six months and their names will be sent to the national background check system used by gun retailers.

The other two cases were dismissed because the person was already prohibited from possessing firearms due to past felony convictions. The sixth person was found not dangerous after presenting testimony from family and medical records.

Red flag law remains unchanged

While Marion County officials have made changes, state lawmakers have resisted doing so. 

IndyStar's investigation found that the state repeatedly ignored warnings — including one from the FBI in 2018 — that the law doesn't stop potentially dangerous people from legally purchasing additional guns while their red flag case is pending.

The gap has created challenges for law enforcement. In one case, police seized handguns from a woman experiencing paranoid delusions on two separate occasions, but she was able to purchase a third while her red flag case was pending. She used it to shoot her neighbor in the back. 

Mears has complained for years about the gap. He raised the issue again after the FedEx shooting.

Gun rights activists, however, staunchly oppose closing the gap. They argue that what Mears calls a "loophole" is an important protection for gun owners who have a right to bear arms and to due process.

The Republican supermajority at the General Assembly agreed. They showed no interest in changing the law during the legislative session earlier this year. 

In fact, only one bill was introduced this year that addressed Indiana's red flag law. It would have scrapped the law entirely. It failed to get a hearing. 

Instead, Republicans focused on repealing Indiana's handgun carry permit requirement. Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the bill last month over the objections of his state police superintendent. 

GOP support for red flag laws erodes 

Despite past support from members of both political parties, there are other signs that support for red flag laws is eroding among Republicans. One of Indiana's highest-profile Republicans, former Vice President Mike Pence, recently made a 180-degree turn on the issue. 

As vice president, Pence suggested Indiana's red flag law could serve as a blueprint for other states across the nation. 

"While we will always defend the right of Americans to keep and bear arms, we don't want people who are a danger to themselves or a danger to others to have access to firearms," he said in 2019. 

Two weeks ago, though, Pence released a policy agenda that struck a starkly different tone. 

One of the agenda's bullet points: "Oppose efforts to pass 'red flag' or 'extreme risk protection order' legislation."

Follow Tony Cook on Twitter: @IndyStarTony