INDIANAPOLIS — One of the busiest buildings in Indiana is looking for a thorough evaluation of its security plan after a tragedy on the second floor of its building.
Al Gosnell was strangled and stabbed to death Wednesday while working inside the Indiana Convention Center.
Gosnell was a foreman who had been working in the sound and light department at the ICC for 10 years. Capital Improvement Board Executive Director Andy Mallon said Gosnell was well-liked by many and one of the first people he met when he started.
”Al was a very nice man, I grew to greatly respect him,” Mallon said. “It always made me happy to see him around. Lots of folks knew him better than me, my heart is broken for them and his family that loved him very much. It’s a huge loss and it’s still very raw.”
IMPD quickly arrested 33-year-old Brian Fulton for Gosnell’s killing. Witnesses followed Fulton from the scene inside the convention center to the nearby Greyhound bus station. Mallon said Fulton used to work at the ICC.
“The suspect had previously worked off and on at the convention center as a part-time skilled laborer so he knew the building, he understood the jargon, he knew how to act as an employee,” Mallon said.
As Mallon and the team at the convention center work through the tragedy, they’re facing security concerns. Teamster Local 135 sent a letter to Mallon and Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett Thursday, expressing their concerns for the safety inside of the convention center and what would be done to protect the employees who work there.
Mallon was asked about the letter Thursday night during a City-County Council Municipal Corporations Committee Hearing.
”Mr. Mallon, I gave you a letter from the Teamsters Local 135. They’ve sent a request that you step up your game and I’m here to hold you accountable for that,” said District 18 City-County Councilor Kristin Jones.
Mallon said the Indiana Convention Center is a unique building to secure. There are only 24 days in the entirety of 2024 where there is not some kind of event going on. It is meant to be open for business. The building is also connected to hotels, parking garages and other city buildings through skywalks.
”There is a natural tension between providing that level of connectivity and accessibility with having a secure building at all times,” said Mallon.
Despite the challenges, he said they take security very seriously. The ICC has 24/7 video surveillance, security guards at each of the main entrances and has added off-duty, armed IMPD officers to patrol the convention center.
”They’re the best of the best,” Mallon said. “That was something we added this year to provide an additional level of security.”
It was two off-duty IMPD officers on security detail who were the first to provide lifesaving measures to Gosnell Wednesday evening.
”Unfortunately, they were just too late,” Mallon said. “It is a peculiar incident. It’s not something we have ever seen in the convention center before.”
IMPD detectives are still working to determine a motive for the killing. Following the murder Wednesday night, Fulton told police he was with the military and the CIA and had neutralized an international terrorist nuclear threat.
As the staff at the ICC work through the loss, additional security officers and off-duty IMPD officers have been added in the building.
“We have an armed officer added to each of our three labor shifts,” Mallon said. “We’ve also added three guards to the first and second shift respectively.”
The Capital Improvement Board is also looking big picture. Mallon said they’re in the process of hiring an outside firm to take a “top to bottom, 360-degree look” at their security plan.
”We need to look at what is available out there and come up with a modern, proactive, prospective model for securing this building,” Mallon said.
Mallon said the funds for the security firm will come from unspent dollars in the 2024 CIB budget.
