On the evening of January 14, 2026, 21-year-old Cierra Marie Gingles was fatally shot inside a home in the 5000 block of Shelby Street, Indianapolis. The shooting occurred about 8:30 p.m. during a physical confrontation that began after the boyfriend of the victim heard a dog screaming in Gary Gatewood’s room. The boyfriend and Gatewood reportedly fought after the boyfriend banged on the wall and accused Gatewood of harming the animal.

Court documents say Gatewood allegedly retrieved a gun from his bedroom and opened fire. Gingles was in the boyfriend’s room when the shooting began; the boyfriend escaped and hid in a nearby backyard, while another man in the house was uninjured. Police found Gingles inside the residence with a fatal gunshot wound.

Gatewood went to a restaurant about a mile away and asked staff to call police, telling them he had done something at his home and needed to be arrested. He was taken into custody without incident; on January 19 he was charged with one count of murder and one count of attempted murder, with an initial hearing set for January 20.

Did anyone in the Shelby Street area see or hear anything that night that could help clarify what happened?