I ended up working the crazy shift of Saturday night... I worked from 6pm to 12am at Harry & Izzy's during the annual Indianapolis Black Expo. I guess there have been problems with this event in the past so there were 4 to 5 cops on every corner and 2 in our restaurant "just in case." I was told there was an emergency plan "just in case" but that it had never been implemented.
Things ran fairly smoothly for most of the night.... I got all the server's names right, didn't drop anything, and the phone calls and people flow were relatively slow. Around 9:30pm however, things changed.
My manager Jenn, who was working as a Hostess with me, was assigning a table to a guest as I gathered up menus so I could walk the couple to their table. I glanced up to see a few people running south on Illinois St. I watched for a second before I saw a crowd of people start running. Before I knew it hundreds of people were running down the road. Within seconds, the crowd had the attention of both Jenn and I and the cop in our restaurant. The cop ran towards the door and turned to give me the 'cut throat' sign. I turned and repeated the sign to Jenn who promptly demanded, "What does that mean??" "I don't know!" I shrugged.
The managers on shift came running to the front and helped the cop lock the doors. We were on lockdown. The mob of people continued running down the road in confusion as the police tried to regain order, but the rumors had already started pouring in...
"Gun shots!"
"People shot!"
"In the mall"
"No! On the street!"
No one really knew what was going on. We all did our best to reassure guests that everything was under control, but no one could help but notice the lack of traffic on the blocked roads surrounding the restaurant. There were cops everywhere and crowds of people standing around the locked buildings. After about an hour or maybe more, people began to leave the restaurant via the mall as it was suggested that this was the safest alternative. Police escorts walked our restaurant staff to their cars. I called my dad [who had volunteered to drive me to work because of the events downtown]. After nearly an hour, Dad still couldn't make the normally 15 minute trip to pick me up. There were road blocks everywhere. On top of it all rumor had it that 9 people were shot, several less than a block from H&I's.
After some time, the police officer in H&I's decided to drive me a few blocks away to meet up with my dad. He buzzed through the police barricades and crowds of people still scattered about. I was ready to get out of the whole mess.
When all was said and done, 10 people were shot [none died] in downtown on Saturday night. The suspect of 9 of the shootings was brought into custody this afternoon, less than 42 hours after the events. All in all, it was quite an eventful night, but I never once felt afraid. The whole thing is scarier to look back on than it was to live. God, I'm sure, is the only reason for that.
See this story in the IndyStar by clicking below
http://www.indystar.com/article/20100719/NEWS02/7190325/Hard-questions-after-Downtown-shooting-chaos
http://www.indystar.com/article/20100719/NEWS02/100719021/Suspect-arrested-in-Indy-shootings
Things ran fairly smoothly for most of the night.... I got all the server's names right, didn't drop anything, and the phone calls and people flow were relatively slow. Around 9:30pm however, things changed.
My manager Jenn, who was working as a Hostess with me, was assigning a table to a guest as I gathered up menus so I could walk the couple to their table. I glanced up to see a few people running south on Illinois St. I watched for a second before I saw a crowd of people start running. Before I knew it hundreds of people were running down the road. Within seconds, the crowd had the attention of both Jenn and I and the cop in our restaurant. The cop ran towards the door and turned to give me the 'cut throat' sign. I turned and repeated the sign to Jenn who promptly demanded, "What does that mean??" "I don't know!" I shrugged.
The managers on shift came running to the front and helped the cop lock the doors. We were on lockdown. The mob of people continued running down the road in confusion as the police tried to regain order, but the rumors had already started pouring in...
"Gun shots!"
"People shot!"
"In the mall"
"No! On the street!"
No one really knew what was going on. We all did our best to reassure guests that everything was under control, but no one could help but notice the lack of traffic on the blocked roads surrounding the restaurant. There were cops everywhere and crowds of people standing around the locked buildings. After about an hour or maybe more, people began to leave the restaurant via the mall as it was suggested that this was the safest alternative. Police escorts walked our restaurant staff to their cars. I called my dad [who had volunteered to drive me to work because of the events downtown]. After nearly an hour, Dad still couldn't make the normally 15 minute trip to pick me up. There were road blocks everywhere. On top of it all rumor had it that 9 people were shot, several less than a block from H&I's.
After some time, the police officer in H&I's decided to drive me a few blocks away to meet up with my dad. He buzzed through the police barricades and crowds of people still scattered about. I was ready to get out of the whole mess.
When all was said and done, 10 people were shot [none died] in downtown on Saturday night. The suspect of 9 of the shootings was brought into custody this afternoon, less than 42 hours after the events. All in all, it was quite an eventful night, but I never once felt afraid. The whole thing is scarier to look back on than it was to live. God, I'm sure, is the only reason for that.
See this story in the IndyStar by clicking below
http://www.indystar.com/article/20100719/NEWS02/7190325/Hard-questions-after-Downtown-shooting-chaos
http://www.indystar.com/article/20100719/NEWS02/100719021/Suspect-arrested-in-Indy-shootings
