Northside shooting victim had made headlines at Grand Canyon

A man who made national headlines four years ago when he took his young grandchildren on a grueling Grand Canyon hike was found shot to death in a Northside alley Friday.

Christopher Carlson, 50, was discovered near 48th Street and Primrose Avenue suffering from several gunshot wounds at 6:30 p.m. Indianapolis Metropolitan police found two small children, thought to be Carlson's, unharmed in the area shortly afterward. It was unclear whether the children were with the man at the time of the shooting, and they are being cared for by the department's victim assistance unit.

Police said they have no suspects in custody.

In June 2012, Carlson was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison on three counts of child abuse for forcing his grandsons — ages 12, 9 and 8 — on a brutal hike through the Grand Canyon the year before.

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Authorities said Carlson hit, choked and whipped the boys, and denied them water and food during the 19-mile hike in 108 degree temperatures. Carlson told investigators after his arrest that his grandsons were overweight and that he thought hiking the Grand Canyon would get them into shape.

But at sentencing, U.S. District Judge Frederick Martone gave Carlson a much lighter sentence than the 17 years he could have imposed. The judge said Carlson obviously cared for his grandchildren and noted that he had struggled with attention-deficit disorder and hyperactivity his whole life. Carlson already had served about 10 months in jail at the time and was given credit time.

At trial, Carlson told the court he would never hurt his grandchildren and that he just wanted to show them the beauty of the Grand Canyon.

"I love my grandchildren greatly," he said. "I wanted to afford these children a beautiful opportunity at a young age to experience something magnificent."

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Carlson had five children, all with different mothers.

A neighbor, whose house backs up to Friday night's crime scene, said he didn't hear any shots and only noticed something was going on when he saw police lights flashing in his window. He paused his video game to check Twitter and saw city crime reporters tweeting that someone had been shot near his home.

This latest fatal shooting is the fourth in Indianapolis this year.

Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at (317) 444-6418 and follow him on Twitter @john_tuohy.