IMPD: 1 dead, 1 critical in drug deal gone bad

An alleged drug deal gone bad Thursday night on the city's Eastside left one man critically injured and a woman shot dead, police said.

Officers responded to the 2100 block of North Arlington Avenue around 8:17 p.m. on a report of a person shot.

En route to the scene, police said they received another call of a person shot. That victim, an unidentified woman, had arrived at Community East Hospital, about a mile away from the 2100 block of North Arlington, with a gunshot wound to the head.

While additional units were dispatched to Community East, the officers who arrived at 2100 N. Arlington Ave. found a man with at least one gunshot wound. Emergency medical crews transported the man to Eskenazi Hospital in critical condition.

Meanwhile, the woman at Community East was pronounced dead from her wounds a short time later, police said.

Initial investigation by police has revealed that the shooting may have stemmed from a drug transaction between the man and woman.

Police said both knew one another and had agreed to meet at the Valero gas station on the southwest corner of 21st Street and Arlington Avenue. Both were armed and opened fire "for reasons we cannot understand," said Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Officer Chris Wilburn.

After being shot, the man, police said, ended up staggering into the middle of the intersection of 21st and Arlington, where officers eventually located him.

As for the female victim, police said she was driven to Community East after the shooting by someone they also believe to be involved in the drug deal.

A gun was found at the scene, and police said they believe it belongs to the man who was transported to Eskenazi.

"We have a potential person of interest in custody at this point," said Wilburn.

Shortly before police received the call of a person shot near the Valero gas station, a report came in of a man who'd arrived at IU Health Methodist Hospital with a gunshot wound. The man's condition is unknown at this time, but police said the victim may have been shot near 10th and Tecumseh streets.

"This situation is murky," said Wilburn, who noted that detectives are still trying to figure out if all three shootings are connected.

For real-time updates, follow Star reporter Michael Anthony Adams on Twitter, who is en route to the scene.