WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:11.560 On April fifteenth, twenty twenty one, nineteen year old Brandon 2 00:00:11.640 --> 00:00:16.160 Scott Hole opened fire at a FedEx ground facility in Indianapolis, 3 00:00:16.519 --> 00:00:20.280 killing eight people and injuring several others before turning the 4 00:00:20.359 --> 00:00:25.480 gun on himself. The attack, which lasted less than four minutes, 5 00:00:25.879 --> 00:00:30.559 became the deadliest mass shooting in Indiana's history and raised 6 00:00:30.679 --> 00:00:36.079 urgent questions about missed warning signs, gun access, and mental 7 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:42.359 health intervention. This is the story of the FedEx shooting. 8 00:00:42.600 --> 00:00:46.159 My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked 9 00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:48.320 and Grim, a true crime podcast. 10 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:55.359 The following podcast in material intended. 11 00:00:55.200 --> 00:01:17.640 For mature audience listener discretion. He's advised, well, this is weird. 12 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:18.560 What's weird? 13 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:22.439 I have a FedEx delivery arriving today, do you Yeah. 14 00:01:22.519 --> 00:01:26.159 I rarely ever get anything via FedEx, but today I'm 15 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:30.519 getting something, and today you're covering this case. That's like 16 00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:31.680 kind of odd, isn't it. 17 00:01:31.879 --> 00:01:34.480 Yeah, a little bit, a little bit of a coincidence, 18 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:36.599 maybe even serendipitous. Who knows? 19 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:37.319 Feels odd? 20 00:01:37.400 --> 00:01:41.239 Now, Well, hopefully you just get your package and the 21 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:43.840 delivery person can get home safe at the end of 22 00:01:43.879 --> 00:01:44.200 the day. 23 00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:46.480 No kidding, Oh, man. 24 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:50.680 This is actually kind of an interesting story. There's not 25 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:53.040 I mean, I got a bit to talk about in it, 26 00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:55.959 but there's not a whole lot really to unravel in 27 00:01:56.000 --> 00:02:00.400 this story, which is unfortunate. But I mean, like, we 28 00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:02.680 don't have convictions and all that sort of thing after 29 00:02:02.760 --> 00:02:07.439 the fact because the perpetrator turns the gun on themselves, 30 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:10.840 So a lot of the things that we have are 31 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:16.360 from prior to the case and speculative things and discussions 32 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:19.199 that occurred after the fact. That makes any sense. 33 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:20.840 Okay, what year was this? 34 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:22.919 I had occurred in twenty twenty one, so. 35 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:25.120 For okay, yeah, because yeah, and like this is not 36 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:28.400 very old. No, So did you say that in the intro? 37 00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:29.240 I did? 38 00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:30.199 Oops. 39 00:02:31.479 --> 00:02:33.120 Lots of times I'm just like, what did you say? 40 00:02:33.159 --> 00:02:33.400 Again? 41 00:02:33.719 --> 00:02:35.719 I don't know if other people have that problem, but 42 00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:39.120 if I'm listening to an audiobook or a podcast, like 43 00:02:39.159 --> 00:02:43.479 I rewind a lot because my mind just go somewhere 44 00:02:43.479 --> 00:02:45.639 else for a hot minute, and then I'm like, what 45 00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:47.039 the shit did they just say? 46 00:02:47.639 --> 00:02:50.120 We actually had this conversation on discord the other day. 47 00:02:50.280 --> 00:02:52.639 Oh really, Yeah, people talking about like, you know, having 48 00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:55.599 to repeat things and listen back, and I was like, 49 00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:58.639 you know, there's situations where even when we're recording, we 50 00:02:58.759 --> 00:03:00.319 have to stop and kind of go back because like 51 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:03.039 the person who's listening to the story sometimes zones out, 52 00:03:03.319 --> 00:03:06.879 and honestly, while I'm going through scripts sometimes I zone 53 00:03:06.919 --> 00:03:09.360 out too, So even though I just read it, I'm like, wait, 54 00:03:09.400 --> 00:03:11.240 what did I read? Kind of like going back in 55 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:11.879 a book, you know. 56 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:15.280 Well, you see that meme to circulate every once in 57 00:03:15.319 --> 00:03:18.080 a while where it's you're at the age now where 58 00:03:18.120 --> 00:03:21.280 you need to like turn off the radio to focus 59 00:03:21.319 --> 00:03:24.039 on driving or something like that. Yeah, if it's like 60 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:26.560 busy traffic or something, it's like this is too much. 61 00:03:26.599 --> 00:03:28.400 I can't. I can't like just turn the sound off. 62 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:30.240 Yeah, I need to turn down the radio so I 63 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:35.000 can see where I'm going. Yes, But before we move 64 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:37.080 on to the show and talk about this case, we 65 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:40.439 do have some patrons to think, So shout out to John, 66 00:03:40.919 --> 00:03:46.599 Alex Greeve, Alex Wright, Melissa Bursara, and Stephanie DeShane. They 67 00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:49.159 all joined us over on Patreon get behind the scenes, 68 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:52.120 and of course they get that exclusive episode at the 69 00:03:52.199 --> 00:03:53.120 end of the month. 70 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:54.599 So good list of people. 71 00:03:54.759 --> 00:03:56.319 Yeah, shout out to you guys, and thank you very 72 00:03:56.400 --> 00:03:58.439 much for the support. We appreciate it, we sure do. 73 00:03:58.919 --> 00:04:02.199 But should we get into this case, let's do it, okay. Well, 74 00:04:02.199 --> 00:04:04.879 it started like any other night shift. It was Thursday, 75 00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:08.520 April fifteenth, twenty twenty one, and it was just past 76 00:04:08.639 --> 00:04:13.680 eleven pm at the FedEx ground facility near the Indianapolis Airport. 77 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:17.079 The warehouse was buzzing with activity. Some workers were wrapping 78 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:20.319 up their shift, others were just clocking in. More than 79 00:04:20.360 --> 00:04:24.079 one hundred people were inside, you know, sorting packages, moving 80 00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:27.600 between loading docks, you know, vending machines and brake areas 81 00:04:27.639 --> 00:04:31.639 even and that's when the first shot rang out. A 82 00:04:31.720 --> 00:04:33.519 man in a hoodie stepped out of his car in 83 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:36.680 the parking lot. Without warning. He raised a rifle and 84 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:43.319 started shooting indiscriminately. Bullets sprayed across the lot, random, rapid 85 00:04:43.399 --> 00:04:46.879 and terrifying. People dove behind cars and ran for buildings, 86 00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:50.160 or maybe even some who frozen place, not knowing what 87 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:53.079 to do. But by the time some workers realized what 88 00:04:53.160 --> 00:04:56.519 was happening, he was already inside, trying to access the 89 00:04:56.560 --> 00:04:59.959 actual workspace. He moved to the lobby and fired round 90 00:05:00.199 --> 00:05:04.240 into the open space. Employees screamed and scattered, some tried 91 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:08.360 hid behind sorting equipment. Others ran back outside, straight into 92 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:11.600 more chaos. The shooter wasn't stopping. He returned to the 93 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:14.920 parking lot and kept firing at anyone in his path. 94 00:05:15.800 --> 00:05:19.600 Calls began pouring into nine one one, things like, quote, 95 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:22.800 we have shots fired, shots fired, they're still shooting as 96 00:05:22.839 --> 00:05:26.000 we speak. Quote he's shooting at everybody. I don't know 97 00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:29.279 how many he's hit. Quote we can't even get through 98 00:05:29.319 --> 00:05:33.000 the turnstills, he's aiming a gun through them. But by 99 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:36.160 the time police pulled up to the building, eight people 100 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:41.800 were already murdered, four in the parking lot, four inside. 101 00:05:41.839 --> 00:05:45.040 Several others were wounded, some barely made it out. One 102 00:05:45.079 --> 00:05:47.639 employee later said that she hid under a trailer in 103 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:49.959 the loading area and stayed on the phone with a 104 00:05:50.040 --> 00:05:52.800 dispatcher from nine to one one for more than thirty minutes. 105 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:55.439 I'm sure if the shooter was still nearby or not, 106 00:05:55.680 --> 00:05:59.519 or where he was, what was happening. And the worst part, 107 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:02.720 no one at the time had any idea why this 108 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:07.759 was happening or even who this guy was. Now, this shooter, 109 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:11.879 he didn't come out of nowhere. Surveillance footage and witnesses 110 00:06:12.279 --> 00:06:16.160 accounted later filling in that timeline. He pulled up to 111 00:06:16.199 --> 00:06:19.560 the parking lot at about ten fifty four pm, and 112 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:21.680 there he sat in his car for a couple minutes. 113 00:06:22.680 --> 00:06:25.839 At first, no one really noticed, just another vehicle in 114 00:06:25.879 --> 00:06:28.439 a sea of night shift workers or delivery trucks, you know, 115 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:31.600 coming and going as constant as the minutes passed by 116 00:06:31.639 --> 00:06:36.040 in a clock. Then he stepped out, wearing a black hoodie, 117 00:06:36.439 --> 00:06:40.439 a black mask, and armed with two legally purchased which 118 00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:44.279 they would later find out ar style rifles. There were 119 00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:46.600 no words that were spoken, there was no hesitation. He 120 00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:48.680 just began open. 121 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:53.040 Firing, just like complete chaos. 122 00:06:52.639 --> 00:06:56.079 Complete chaos, indiscriminately just kept firing. 123 00:06:56.560 --> 00:07:00.560 Honestly, it would take me so long to even like. 124 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:02.160 Understand to process it. 125 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:05.759 Yeah, because lots of times you even hear loud noises 126 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:08.360 and it could be a gunshot, but then your mind 127 00:07:08.439 --> 00:07:11.079 doesn't go there, right, You're like you make an excuse 128 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:13.399 that it's something else or something right, like, you just 129 00:07:13.399 --> 00:07:17.680 wouldn't expect that, so before you process what the hell 130 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:20.480 is even happening, it like very well could be too late. 131 00:07:20.439 --> 00:07:22.879 For you for sure, And that's it's human nature to 132 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:26.560 like make up those excuses to assume that it, oh, 133 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:30.240 it's not dangerous, like we're okay, you know. Yeah, it's 134 00:07:30.519 --> 00:07:33.319 something that's built into us to think that, no, we're fine. 135 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:36.240 The last time I heard like a huge bang, I 136 00:07:36.279 --> 00:07:38.279 was like in the bath, and I was like, I 137 00:07:38.360 --> 00:07:41.279 noted it. And then I just like carried on with 138 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:43.399 my day and oh that was nothing. And then you 139 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:46.360 like get out of the bath and there was like fire, 140 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:49.079 trugs and ambulances all on the road, and here there 141 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:50.879 was like a big accident, and I was just like, 142 00:07:51.240 --> 00:07:51.879 what it up? 143 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:56.480 You know, your brain makes that excuse right now. One 144 00:07:56.480 --> 00:08:00.519 FedEx employee, still in their car, barely ducked down time. 145 00:08:00.959 --> 00:08:04.079 Another ran for cover behind a concrete pillar. People outside 146 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:07.040 sprinted towards the building, yelling warnings for anyone else to 147 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:11.360 take cover and hide. Others didn't know where to go inside. Outside, 148 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:14.319 they both felt like a trap. So the shooter, after 149 00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:16.879 coming out of their vehicle, made their way into the 150 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:21.120 entryway inside and kept firing. Now, according to witnesses, he 151 00:08:21.319 --> 00:08:24.800 was shouting something, but no one could really make out 152 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:27.959 the words, whether it was through the gunshots, the chaosk 153 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:30.920 or the mask he was wearing. The words were just muffled. 154 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:34.080 It wasn't a targeted attack on any individuals. There was 155 00:08:34.120 --> 00:08:37.559 no specific person who was working there that was being 156 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:41.240 sought out. He was just firing into the open whoever 157 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:45.080 he saw. A few people tried to duck behind machines. 158 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:48.279 According to multiple reports, one employee actually had a weapon 159 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:51.960 on them as well, So they had a legally owned 160 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:56.000 firearm which probably wasn't allowed to be on shift. 161 00:08:55.720 --> 00:08:56.600 In the workplace. 162 00:08:56.720 --> 00:09:00.600 Yeah, yeah, but I digress. They did take this weapon 163 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:05.600 and turned back and returned fire. Now presumably being like 164 00:09:05.720 --> 00:09:09.360 a pistol or something like that that they would have had. 165 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:12.480 I don't think the capacity of rounds in there would 166 00:09:12.519 --> 00:09:15.679 have been very much. And this guy's got high capacity 167 00:09:16.039 --> 00:09:18.960 AR rifles, so you can return a couple shots. But 168 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:21.720 that's about the gist of it. And that return fire, 169 00:09:21.799 --> 00:09:23.879 as I mentioned, missed and it didn't even slow the 170 00:09:23.879 --> 00:09:27.519 gunman down. He just simply kept walking and kept shooting. 171 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:31.240 Okay, I'm actually not really familiar with those weapons. Is 172 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:33.240 that one where you're kind of hold the trigger and 173 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:36.360 like numerous rounds are kind of coming out or whatever. 174 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:41.000 So fully automatic, so there's there's single shot, there's semi automatic, 175 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:44.879 and fully automatic. I'm unaware. I'm pretty sure he had 176 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:49.240 fully automatic AR style AR fifteen rifles, but it was 177 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:51.960 at the very least semi automatic. So every time you 178 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:54.559 pull the trigger, a shot is fired, and you can 179 00:09:54.600 --> 00:09:57.679 just keep pulling the trigger. No single shot. You generally 180 00:09:57.679 --> 00:10:00.360 have to, like you know, reload and fully automatic, you 181 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:03.200 hold the trigger down and just keep shooting. But the 182 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:07.200 difference is he had high capacity magazines, which basically means 183 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:11.720 it's a clip that holds all your bullets, and you 184 00:10:11.720 --> 00:10:13.919 have a high capacity, which means it holds a shit 185 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:14.720 ton of bullets. 186 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:17.159 It basically means like you do not stand a. 187 00:10:17.240 --> 00:10:20.879 Chance really pretty much. So I don't know how many 188 00:10:20.919 --> 00:10:24.000 bullets a high capacity magazine of this firearm would hold. 189 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:27.399 Let's just say, for the sake of argument, it holds 190 00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:31.720 thirty bullets. Okay, so thirty bullets versus your handgun, which 191 00:10:31.759 --> 00:10:35.480 holds somewhere in the vicinity of maybe five six. Yeah, 192 00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:39.200 something like that. You don't stand a chance unless you 193 00:10:39.240 --> 00:10:41.440 have a single perfect shot and you can take them out, 194 00:10:41.480 --> 00:10:46.519 which unfortunately this person missed. And that's all she really wrote. 195 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:50.399 So yeah, he just kept firing, kept walking, didn't seem 196 00:10:50.440 --> 00:10:50.759 to care. 197 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:52.399 That's terrifying. 198 00:10:52.759 --> 00:10:56.600 He then made his way towards the facility's main entrance turnedstells, 199 00:10:56.879 --> 00:10:59.639 which are like those full height and metal revolving gates 200 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:02.399 of like open when you scan your proper id sort 201 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:05.600 of thing. Okay, this case, obviously it's a FedEx batch 202 00:11:05.639 --> 00:11:09.440 because it's a FedEx facility. Now, this guy couldn't get 203 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:12.919 through those gates, but he didn't stop. He aimed between 204 00:11:12.919 --> 00:11:15.440 the bars and kept shooting at anyone he saw on 205 00:11:15.480 --> 00:11:18.840 the other side. Once he couldn't make his way into 206 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:22.000 the actual facility, he walked back out through the lobby 207 00:11:22.039 --> 00:11:24.679 and back out into the parking lot and began firing 208 00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:27.759 again at anyone else he saw who was leaving the 209 00:11:27.799 --> 00:11:31.080 facility trying to get to their vehicles or escape. And 210 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:35.000 of course more chaos ensued and there were more bodies. 211 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:40.200 Good lord, this is just like he's like a madman, 212 00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:42.279 eh basically huh. 213 00:11:42.360 --> 00:11:45.519 Now, just a few minutes after it started, it was 214 00:11:45.559 --> 00:11:50.039 all over. The shooter then turned the gun on himself 215 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:54.639 and ended his own life. From the first bullet to 216 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:59.000 the last, it happened in under four minutes. That's how 217 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:00.000 fast this went down. 218 00:12:00.440 --> 00:12:02.799 It seemed like it lasted way longer. Than that. And 219 00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:05.840 I mean, I'm assuming like for the victims and people 220 00:12:05.879 --> 00:12:07.919 in the situation, it would have felt longer, right or 221 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:10.960 would it have felt shorter? Probably longer like forever. 222 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:13.519 I'm sure it would have felt like forever. And now 223 00:12:13.559 --> 00:12:16.159 here's the thing I mentioned already that there was one 224 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:18.080 person who was hiding and on the phone with nine 225 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:20.759 oh one for like half an hour, right, So this 226 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:24.399 happened for four minutes, but that terror kept going like 227 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:27.960 they didn't know where he was, what was happening. They 228 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:34.240 just were terrified and hiding and begging to survive basically yep. Now, 229 00:12:34.279 --> 00:12:37.639 when police arrived, they didn't find that standoff. They found 230 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:41.080 a massacre and a dead nineteen year old laying near 231 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:44.639 the lobby with two rifles by his side, both decked 232 00:12:44.679 --> 00:12:49.840 out with my little pony stickers. His name was Brandon 233 00:12:49.960 --> 00:12:53.399 Scott Whole, and he was the one who went through 234 00:12:53.799 --> 00:12:57.120 and shot eight people and killing them shot more, but 235 00:12:57.200 --> 00:12:58.000 killed eight people. 236 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:01.639 Okay, excuse me, so I don't need to wind where 237 00:13:01.879 --> 00:13:03.399 the hell were the my little pony. 238 00:13:03.159 --> 00:13:05.080 Stickers on the rifles? 239 00:13:05.320 --> 00:13:09.960 Are you kidding me? Okay? That seems so I was 240 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:12.720 like on his bumper, like what Okay, no, he gone 241 00:13:13.320 --> 00:13:14.320 on the firearms. 242 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:16.200 They were decked out with my little pony. 243 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:20.600 Stickers, something so innocent, decked out on something so like evil. Yes, 244 00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:22.840 just that is very unexpected. 245 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:24.960 Okay, Now, my little pony plays a little bit of 246 00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:27.639 a part in this story. We'll talk about it here 247 00:13:27.679 --> 00:13:30.639 in a little bit, but to the extent it plays 248 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:35.879 is definitely up for debate. But I digress. So it 249 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:39.000 seems like this wasn't a random act of violence, though, 250 00:13:39.159 --> 00:13:43.279 because Brandon had a history and this honestly probably could 251 00:13:43.320 --> 00:13:48.799 have been all prevented. The day the system could have 252 00:13:48.840 --> 00:13:53.480 stopped Brandon was March third, twenty twenty, almost exactly a 253 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:58.480 year before the shooting occurred. That morning, Sheila Hole, his mother, 254 00:13:58.799 --> 00:14:02.639 walked into the Indianapolis Police Department, not as a victim, 255 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:04.679 but as a mother trying to stop her son from 256 00:14:04.759 --> 00:14:08.639 becoming something of a monster, or even a victim himself. 257 00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:13.080 Her son, Brandon had just turned eighteen. The day before, 258 00:14:13.159 --> 00:14:16.720 he bought a shotgun legal but no AMMO, just the gun, 259 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:20.600 and Sheila confronted him about this and things got pretty tense. 260 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:23.840 Brandon snapped, He hit her in the arm, told her 261 00:14:23.879 --> 00:14:26.679 to shut up and then drop the words. No parent 262 00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:30.519 ever wants to hear quote, this is not the life 263 00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:33.399 I want to live. I'll end it my way. So 264 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:38.200 imagine having your son say that after purchasing a shotgun. 265 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:40.679 Yeah. I had to just process that for a minute 266 00:14:40.679 --> 00:14:43.320 and I was like what yeah, dang. 267 00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:46.279 See. He continued on by saying that he was going 268 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:49.639 to point the gun at police so they'd shoot him. 269 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:52.759 Whoa aka suicide by police? 270 00:14:53.480 --> 00:14:55.279 Oh? Man, was he struggling? 271 00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:59.080 I'm assuming definitely, and we'll get into it. 272 00:14:59.159 --> 00:14:59.559 Okay. 273 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:04.080 So when that conversation hap happened, she had had enough. 274 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:07.279 Sheila and her daughter made a plan and went straight 275 00:15:07.320 --> 00:15:10.840 to the police. Officers responded quickly. They went to the 276 00:15:10.840 --> 00:15:15.320 house handcuffed Brandon without incident, but he was He was 277 00:15:15.399 --> 00:15:19.159 anxious and panicking, saying, please just turn off the power 278 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:22.039 strip to my computer. I don't want anyone to see 279 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:22.480 what's on it. 280 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:27.279 Oh and he's saying this to police, yes, oh okay. 281 00:15:27.480 --> 00:15:29.639 This of course raised some eyebrows. 282 00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:30.080 Yep. 283 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:33.200 And when officers went upstairs to retrieve the shotgun, they 284 00:15:33.240 --> 00:15:36.519 also took a look at the monitor. What they saw 285 00:15:36.759 --> 00:15:41.879 was exactly what you'd think. There was some heavy content, 286 00:15:42.039 --> 00:15:46.960 in particular some white supremacist websites, extreme material and search 287 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:51.399 histories that matched the profile of someone deeply disturbed. Still, 288 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:55.120 Brandon insisted he wasn't suicidal. He told officers that he 289 00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:58.720 was depressed, felt sad, and would probably benefit from some counseling. 290 00:15:59.399 --> 00:16:02.039 This was all enough for them to place him under 291 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:05.320 an immediate detention mental health hold. They took him to 292 00:16:05.320 --> 00:16:08.919 a local hospital and confiscated the shotgun. On the paperwork, 293 00:16:08.919 --> 00:16:12.799 they even wrote quote seized from dangerous person, so he's 294 00:16:12.840 --> 00:16:15.799 labeled as a dangerous person that they seized this shotgun. Front. 295 00:16:16.919 --> 00:16:19.039 This sounds like the system is doing their job, and 296 00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:22.039 the system is working. You know, the policies, the procedures 297 00:16:22.039 --> 00:16:24.720 that are in place, they're being followed, and you know, 298 00:16:25.159 --> 00:16:30.639 things can be prevented here. But that hold on him, 299 00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:37.879 that mental health hold, it lasted less than two hours. Okay, 300 00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:41.240 there was no full psychological evaluation that was ever done, 301 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:45.679 no criminal charges, no court date, no official red flag case. 302 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:48.799 The computer was just left at home and not investigated 303 00:16:48.840 --> 00:16:50.639 fully at all either. They just kind of took a 304 00:16:50.679 --> 00:16:53.759 quick look and like, oh shit, there's some crazy shit here. Whatever, 305 00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:56.240 let's go take the shotgun and bring him in. And 306 00:16:56.279 --> 00:16:57.639 then he was released two hours later. 307 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:01.799 Oh now that okay, I was expecting something a little different, 308 00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:04.559 But I mean, I don't know why considering what you've 309 00:17:04.599 --> 00:17:06.720 already divulged here. 310 00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:10.240 Now, that shotgun it was never returned, but the rest 311 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:14.880 of the system never really followed through the next day. 312 00:17:14.920 --> 00:17:17.960 It was just business as usual. And the problem was 313 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:20.920 that Brandon, he didn't just snap. There were a lot 314 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:25.279 of warning signs that just it went totally unchecked. See, 315 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:27.400 by the time he walked into that FedEx facility with 316 00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:30.839 those two rifles, he had been on a long, slow 317 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:33.839 decline and people had been worried about him for years. 318 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:38.319 His trouble started in elementary school. He was already on 319 00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:41.119 the radar, and by fourth grade he was diagnosed with 320 00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:46.319 disruptive behavior disorder and anxiety, and possibly, though he wasn't 321 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:49.519 officially diagnosed, it was potential that he had OCD as well. 322 00:17:49.559 --> 00:17:53.440 He certainly showed the signs. He had outbursts, trouble focusing, 323 00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:57.279 difficulty connecting with other kids, and when you have your OCD. 324 00:17:57.519 --> 00:18:00.319 He had routines and if they were interrupted, those teens 325 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:02.319 had to start right over from the very beginning. 326 00:18:02.599 --> 00:18:03.200 Oh okay. 327 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:06.039 His mother said that as he got older, things only 328 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:09.160 got worse. In twenty thirteen, at the age of eleven, 329 00:18:09.319 --> 00:18:12.160 he attacked his mum. It wasn't just a tantrum. He 330 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:16.039 physically assaulted her and left her with minor injuries that 331 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:20.319 landed him on probation and into mandatory counseling. Still, the 332 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:24.359 pattern didn't stop. In twenty fifteen, he was diagnosed with 333 00:18:24.440 --> 00:18:29.119 autism spectrum disorder. Over time, his behavior became so severe 334 00:18:29.160 --> 00:18:32.200 that he couldn't attend school anymore. Police were called to 335 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:35.240 the house multiple times. At some point it became clear 336 00:18:35.799 --> 00:18:39.480 Brandon wasn't going to be graduating his family. They did 337 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:42.400 what they could. He saw therapists, he was enrolled in 338 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:45.799 behavior programs, but none of it stuck. His mental health 339 00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:50.279 challenges were compounded by isolation, confusion about his identity, and 340 00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:55.160 what seemed like a growing obsession with violence. Later investigators 341 00:18:55.160 --> 00:18:58.680 would describe Brandon as someone who wanted to prove he 342 00:18:58.759 --> 00:19:03.279 was capable, strong, in control, dangerous. He told people he 343 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:07.079 was interested in the military, and he started eating MREs, 344 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:10.279 which are like those ready to eat meals, those rations 345 00:19:10.279 --> 00:19:12.160 for soldiers and combat zones. 346 00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:12.559 Yeah. 347 00:19:13.160 --> 00:19:15.319 Now, In the summer of twenty twenty, Brandon made an 348 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:18.559 effort to step out on his own. At eighteen, he 349 00:19:18.599 --> 00:19:21.519 moved out of his family home into a place by himself, 350 00:19:21.799 --> 00:19:24.480 something investigators would later say was part of his attempt 351 00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:27.559 to assert independence, prove his capability. You know, kind of 352 00:19:27.559 --> 00:19:30.839 like become a man almost, I guess, and I don't 353 00:19:30.839 --> 00:19:33.880 say that it's kind of being a man is actually 354 00:19:33.960 --> 00:19:36.680 part of what's going on here. 355 00:19:37.240 --> 00:19:39.519 He probably wasn't ready to be moving out on his own, 356 00:19:39.720 --> 00:19:40.680 by the sounds of it. 357 00:19:41.240 --> 00:19:44.400 He may have been, but he wanted that masculinity and 358 00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:48.160 that independence. That's what he was searching for now. Not 359 00:19:48.279 --> 00:19:52.279 long after, he got a job at the FedEx ground facility. 360 00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:55.240 I was like waiting for this. I'm like he had 361 00:19:55.279 --> 00:19:57.279 to have been working there or worked there. 362 00:19:57.839 --> 00:19:59.759 It was the very same one on the south side 363 00:19:59.799 --> 00:20:03.000 of or sorry, southwest side of Indianapolis, and he worked 364 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:06.200 there as a package handler on the overnight shift. It 365 00:20:06.279 --> 00:20:10.079 was a physically demanding job, but it gave him structure, paycheck, 366 00:20:10.519 --> 00:20:13.559 and at least outwardly a fresh start, and for a 367 00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:15.240 while it looked like he was trying to put his 368 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:19.480 life together after years of instability, mental health struggles. At least, right, 369 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:22.079 you know, he has something here. He has an independence. 370 00:20:22.119 --> 00:20:25.079 You know, he's got that feeling of being a man 371 00:20:25.240 --> 00:20:28.160 for what he's trying to search for, and it's giving 372 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:32.079 him everything he's really looking for. But things didn't stick. 373 00:20:32.759 --> 00:20:36.160 Within two months, he stopped showing up for his shifts 374 00:20:36.599 --> 00:20:40.319 and he was fired in October of twenty twenty for absenteeisms. 375 00:20:41.240 --> 00:20:43.359 He moved back in with his family shortly after, and 376 00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:47.519 according to the FBI, this failed attempt at that independence, 377 00:20:47.599 --> 00:20:52.240 losing his job, having to return home, it deeply affected him. 378 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:56.279 It left him feeling defeated, emasculated, and unable to meet 379 00:20:56.319 --> 00:21:00.519 expectations that he set out for himself. And that's the 380 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:03.920 big thing here, is what he's setting out for himself. 381 00:21:04.519 --> 00:21:06.839 I'm not saying that going out and living on your 382 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:09.799 own and doing a job is something that makes someone 383 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:12.440 a man, you know, is a masculine thing. Those are 384 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:14.680 the parameters that he's setting for himself. Those are the 385 00:21:14.680 --> 00:21:17.440 barriers that he's trying to overcome, saying, you know, if 386 00:21:17.480 --> 00:21:20.480 I do these things, I'll feel better, I'll feel independent, 387 00:21:20.519 --> 00:21:22.599 I'll feel like a man. That's the sort of thing 388 00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:23.119 that's going on. 389 00:21:23.400 --> 00:21:26.759 So he has quite like high expectations kind of for himself. 390 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:28.599 I think at a pretty young age. 391 00:21:28.599 --> 00:21:32.559 Really definitely, and maybe it's not necessarily expectations, but it's 392 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:35.480 hopes thinking, you know what, I can do this, and 393 00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:37.359 if I can do this, I can do the next. 394 00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:39.720 And if one of those steps along the way fails 395 00:21:39.799 --> 00:21:42.759 or he falters, then he beats himself up over it. 396 00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:43.279 Okay. 397 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:47.559 Now, over time that feeling it turned inward, and then 398 00:21:47.880 --> 00:21:52.640 it became darker. Investigators would later conclude that his experience 399 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:56.319 during this period helped shape the motivation behind the attack 400 00:21:56.720 --> 00:22:01.920 that he was well already quietly planning. And of course 401 00:22:02.440 --> 00:22:05.839