Authorities are not releasing names of the victims who survived Saturday’s shooting in Goshen. They said the four victims are siblings and several are minors. The suspected shooter, who also died, is identified as David Varela Morales, 20.
Goshen Police Chief Jose Miller wouldn’t say what his relationship to the victims was, but he did say Goshen is a safe community.
The stepfather of at least one of the victims updated the survivors’ conditions, saying the were doing as well as could be.
Two people were killed and three others were seriously injured in the shooting on Saturday, May 21, at the home on Rosemare Court.
Emergency medical professionals arranged for two injured females to be airlifted to a trauma hospital in Fort Wayne. One injured female was taken to a trauma hospital in South Bend. One injured male was taken to Goshen Hospital for treatment, but died. One male died at the scene.
Chief Miller was quick to clarify some rumors about the motive for the shooting.
“I’ve seen a few things that have been posted publicly that I want to clear up,” he said. “One was stating this had to do with gang activity. This had nothing to do with gang activity.”
“The news of this horrific shooting that has devastated families and our community has hit up all hard,” said Mayor Jeremy Stutsman. “As a community, we need to support our police and public safety network. We also need to come together to create an impenetrable support system to help those in the most need when it comes to behavioral and mental health crisis’s.”
Bethany Christian School in Goshen confirmed that the shooting involved one of their families.
Miller said the shooting is part of a growing trend of escalating violence in Goshen.
“This year, so far since December 31, we have had 19 acts of gun violence, 5 injuries, 4 deaths, 3 adults arrested, 4 juveniles arrested, 5 residents shot at, 3 incidents of vehicles being shot at,” he said.
Police don’t plan to release any more details about the shooting until they are done investigating.
The Elkhart County Homicide Unit is leading the investigation, with on-going assistance of the Goshen Police Departm
