IMPD: Mom charged after daughter accidentally shoots self, son brings gun to school

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis police have made an arrest in a November 2025 shooting that was initially reported as accidental and self-inflicted.

Alysha Gulley, 37, faces charges of neglect of a dependent for the Nov. 16 incident.

She was booked into the Marion County jail on Monday and is due in court for a hearing on Friday.

What happened on Nov. 16, 2025

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers arrived at a home in the 1100 block of West 35th Street near Clifton Street on the northwest side to investigate a person shot.

There, they found a 7-year-old girl inside a blue minivan who’d been shot in the pelvis. At the time, they were reported to be in stable condition.

According to an arrest affidavit shared with News 8, Gulley, the child’s mother, told officers at the time that she was driving with the child in the backseat when she suddenly heard a “loud boom,” and realized her daughter had been shot.

She sped out of the area, believing it was a drive-by, and called 911, telling the operator she was returning to her home on 35th Street.

Police searched the area where Gulley said the shooting happened, but did not find any evidence.

In speaking with detectives, Gulley said she did own a gun that was in a backpack in her car. Police later found the bag and a 9mm handgun in the rear floorboards. The loaded magazine contained 15 live cartridges, police say.

The backpack did not have a lock and appeared unzipped, police said. There weren’t any other storage devices found in the car.

When detectives asked Gulley if her daughter could have been accidentally shot, she said she was “unsure and did not have any (other) information.”

Officers spoke with Gulley’s injured daughter while at the hospital, who said it was an “accident.”

A gun in the classroom

The incidents involving Gulley’s children continued. The day after the shooting, Indianapolis Public School police officers contacted IMPD to report that Gulley’s 6-year-old child came to school with a gun.

The boy’s teacher told detectives she noticed a “bulge” in another student’s jacket. When confronting the student, police say the student ran into the bathroom. After a back-and-forth between the student, teacher, and Gulley’s son, police say she found the gun inside the other student’s waistband.

Police say the student informed his teacher that Gulley’s son had brought the gun, and showed it to him before putting it in his backpack.

Gulley would later confirm the gun belonged to her 18-year-old son, who lived at home with them.

Another conversation with Gulley’s daughter

Court documents further detail the 7-year-old girl’s conversation with detectives following the shooting.

The girl claimed she, Gulley, and her older sister were driving home from the dollar store when Gulley asked for her vape. Unsure if her mom was talking to her or her sister, she started to look for the vape in the black backpack.

When she grabbed the bag, the girl told police she felt something hard, and then the “bag went boom and shot her in the bottom through the bag.”

The girl reported that she didn’t even know there was a gun in the bag or in the car, and added that she does not get into trouble.

Police noted in court documents that the girl “was free from visible marks and bruises as a result of abuse or neglect.”

IMPD announced Gulley’s arrest Thursday morning.

Online records show she was booked into the Marion County jail on Monday.

She’s due in court for a hearing Friday.

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