On the evening of July 13, 2022, a family disagreement on the front porch of a home in the 1900 block of Wallace Avenue, just west of Emerson Avenue in Indianapolis, turned deadly. Vincent Lovett Clifton Jr, a 38-year-old Black man, was among more than 20 people who had gathered when a fight broke out and gunfire erupted from the side of the house. Clifton was fatally shot; his cousin suffered multiple gunshot wounds to a hand, foot and knee while trying to avoid the shooting.

Witnesses identified the shooter as Zech Thomsen, saying he pulled a gun and fired repeatedly between two buildings during the brawl. Some witnesses told police they believed Thomsen had no apparent reason for the attack and noted he may have suffered from post-traumatic stress from a prior shooting. Investigators linked Thomsen to the scene through witness descriptions and other records, and an individual connected to a separate case told detectives Thomsen had been carrying a firearm that day.

What details about that night or about Vincent Clifton’s movements beforehand might help clarify how the confrontation escalated into gunfire?