Gary officials say they remain focused on public safety, after four people were killed in three separate shootings on Sunday and Monday.
"From our preliminary and ongoing investigation, we can say that these incidents that we just spoke about are not gang-related, they are not drug-related and they are not random. We believe that all the individuals were targeted by a specific person. It just so happened that it happened within a short period of time," said Police Chief Brian Evans during a press conference Tuesday.
Evans said it began around 4:30 Sunday afternoon, when officers were called to Methodist Hospital — where an individual was being treated for a single gunshot wound and later died. Three hours later, police responded to the 2600 block of Jackson Street, where two people had reportedly been shot.
"One expired, a female victim, and one was still alive and is still alive and receiving treatment at a hospital in Chicago," Evans explained.
Then on Monday, Evans says two juveniles were found dead in the 29-hundred block of West 11th Avenue. "We believe that these individuals were actually killed together at the same time," Evans added.
Evans believes the incidents are part of a nationwide wave of "unprecedented" violence.
Mayor Jerome Prince stressed that the incidents are isolated and Gary remains "a great city." "I want to say that this is not Gary, and this certainly is not who we are," Prince said.
The mayor added that he still believes the city is moving in the right direction with its public safety efforts, and programs like THRIVE! are helping to keep youth engaged.
