INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Recently released court documents reveal new details about a shooting at a fitness center that injured an adult and a juvenile.
On February 6, at 8:30 p.m., Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers responded to Versa Fitness in the 6900 block of West 38th Street after receiving a report of an active shooter. While police were on their way to the scene, reports were made that a person had been shot. When officers arrived on scene, they found two men who had been shot inside the fitness center. One of the men, a 16-year-old, was shot in the left ankle. He was taken to Riley Hospital. The other adult male was shot in his right calf and taken to Eskenazi Hospital.
Versa Fitness officials provided IMPD detectives with footage, photos and scans after the incident. Several people were working out at the fitness center when the incident occurred. A Hispanic man came into the gym at 8:02 p.m. and scanned the barcode ID of Steve Valdez, 20, of Indianapolis. He carried a black bag and spent some time working out at the fitness center.
A group of three white males, possibly of Hispanic descent, entered the fitness center at 8:11 p.m. They also spent time working out at the fitness center. At 8:26 p.m., the Hispanic man and the group of three began a verbal exchange. The Hispanic man had a bag in front of him. The trio handed each other backpacks. A Hispanic man walked with a group of three people to the front door of the fitness center and spoke to him.
When the Hispanic man reached the exit door, he pulled out a handgun and began firing. He shot and killed two innocent bystanders while the trio crouched in the gym. After the Hispanic man began firing, one of the men in the group of three pulled a handgun from his backpack. The group fled to the recovery area and child care area. The Hispanic man ran into the parking lot of Versa Fitness and then headed to the Taco Bell restaurant across the lot. There was also what appeared to be a muzzle flash right before I ran behind the Taco Bell wall. The trio ran out of the daycare center and out of the fitness center.
IMPD detectives reviewed previous police reports regarding Steve Valdez. Detectives found a phone number that matched Valdez’s name, verified his date of birth, and matched his BMV photo to the shooter at the fitness center. Detectives found Valdez’s silver 2005 Lexus ES330 in the Versa Fitness parking lot. The vehicle was later towed to Indianapolis Animal Care and Control for a search warrant.
Investigators collected and photographed multiple pieces of evidence during the search of the fitness center, including shell casings, bloody towels, bloody shorts, blood stains in the men’s room, a backpack, and multiple bullet fragments. Investigators also interviewed several witnesses to gather information about the individuals involved in the shooting. Multiple witnesses identified Steve Valdez-Rivera as the shooter.
Witnesses showed IMPD detectives cell phone video of a preliminary altercation involving the gunman and members of the trio in mid-December. The altercation was broken up by a Versa Fitness employee.
On February 9, the IMPD Violent Crimes Unit was ordered to search for Valdez-Rivera.
On February 12, an IMPD officer observed Valdez-Rivera walking into a residence in the 1800 block of Welchwood Circle. Detectives filed a search warrant for the residence, which was later granted. Valdez-Rivera was taken into custody without incident and transported to the IMPD Aggravated Assault Office. Investigators searching Valdez-Rivera’s residence found an Apple iPhone, multiple handguns, multiple rounds of ammunition, a backpack and a firearm magazine.
Detectives attempted to interview Steve Valdez-Rivera. He said he wanted to talk to a lawyer right away. Valdez-Rivera was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon and criminal recklessness. He was taken to the Community Justice Center.
On February 13, detectives interviewed Valdez-Rivera and his attorney, referred to in documents as EM. EM said there were three other people involved in the shooting who had previous encounters with Valdez-Rivera. EM said he has shown guns in the past and sent threats against Valdez and Rivera via text message. Valdez-Rivera was also dating the ex-girlfriend of one of the other three people involved.
During the interrogation, EM provided detectives with the social media names and photos of the three men. All three men were members of the gym and had had four previous incidents with Valdez-Rivera.
The first incident occurred about three months before the shooting. At Versa Fitness, one of the men followed Valdez-Rivera to the locker room and dropped him off. Valdez-Rivera said the group began to become aggressive. Valdez-Rivera and his girlfriend left the gym. Valdez-Rivera’s girlfriend told them who they were, and one of the men then sent Valdez-Rivera a threatening text.
Three more incidents occurred between the first incident and the shooting. All incidents involved Valdez-Rivera and the men in the group going back and forth before leaving the gym. The fifth incident was a shooting incident. Valdez-Rivera believed the incident occurred because he was dating an ex-girlfriend of a man in the group. Valdez-Rivera identified everyone involved in the incident from photos provided by detectives.
