A teen is dead and two people are in the hospital after a shooting on the third night of the Harvest Homecoming festival in New Albany Saturday night.
The shooting happened just after 9:50 p.m. near State Street at Black Street, near the rides at Harvest Homecoming.
New Albany Police Chief Todd Bailey confirmed that one person died at the scene and the other two were taken to the hospital for the injuries. They are expected to live.
In a press conference Sunday, Bailey identified the victim as 18-year-old Bryce Gerlach from Corydon, Indiana.
Police confirmed the two recovering in the hospital were a 22-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman.
Bailey said police believe all three people who were shot were innocent bystanders and unrelated to the dispute that led up to the shooting.
At least two groups of people were involved in the dispute and there were at least two shooters, according to police.
Initially, police believed shots were only fired from the YMCA parking lot off State Street and the Scribner House off State and Main streets, but an investigation showed that there may have been more shots fired from within the carnival area.
Bailey said all suspects, described as Black men in their teens and early 20s, fled the area. One suspect was identified as a Black male with dreadlocks wearing a red hoodie. All suspects are still considered dangerous.
Police say while they have identified several people as persons of interest, they have not positively identified anyone.
Bailey said the shooting was the most prominent incident that has ever happened at Harvest Homecoming, and typically, police get through the festival without arresting anyone.
Officials with Harvest Homecoming said they made the decision to cancel all Sunday events out of respect for those impacted by the tragedy Saturday night and the overall wellbeing of their patrons, vendors and volunteers.
Additionally, officials cited logistics concerns, as they weren’t able to perform nightly sanitation after the immediate shutdown and evacuation.
Sunday was scheduled to be the last day of the festival.
New Albany Police Department is asking anybody with information on the suspect(s) or the shooting to call 812-944-6411.
Source: WAVE
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