INDIANAPOLIS — Police are continuing to investigate the cause of a shooting that left 16-year-old dead on Indy’s northwest side.
Just after 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 16-year-old Nathaniel Labissiere was shot and died at a home on Braemar drive.
Some witnesses claim the deadly shooting was an accident, although IMPD insists they’re still investigating what led to the violence.
Because the teen didn’t shoot himself, the case is being investigated as a homicide, which may or may not be criminal.
“Here we are with another family having to plan a funeral. It’s truly unfortunate,” said Kareem Hines, founder of New Breed of Youth.
Hines runs a youth mentoring program. He believes because many teens have easy access to firearms, kids need to be educated about the consequences of using guns in a reckless way.
“Even if it’s not being used with malicious intent, we see the result of a young person with a firearm without proper training or adult supervision,” said Hines.
In this case, a person of interest was questioned, but IMPD adds that no arrests have been made.
The death marks the fifth homicide this year involving a juvenile victim. Last year on the same date, that number was three times higher with 15 deaths. In fact, this year marks the fewest underage deaths year-to-date since 2018.
“All these organizations working together, that’s what is going to keep those numbers down,” said Ralph Durrett Jr., Indy’s chief violence prevention officer.
Durrett Jr. says his goal is to increase partnerships between anti-violence groups so they don’t operate in isolation.
“That’s my goal is to be a bridge builder and to connect the community to the resources that they need,” said Durrett Jr.
“So we are moving the needle in the right direction. Things are working. I can’t point to a cause, but I can tell you there has been more collaboration happening,” said Hines.
Still, the work continues every day to prevent this year from matching the year end youth homicides totals seen in recent years.
“There are some things that are working. We just have to keep grinding. We can’t stop now,” said Hines.
IMPD says everyone involved in the incident has been spoken to, but it remains an active investigation.
Anyone with information about this incident should call Detective Anthony Johnson in the IMPD Homicide Office at (317) 327-3475 or email him at [email protected].
Alternatively, they can call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at (317) 262-8477 or (TIPS).
