Update 10/30/2024: The day after this story published, the Floyd County prosecutor’s office charged 20-year-old Joshua M. Smith with felonies for criminal recklessness and obstruction of justice. In court records, police say Smith was present when three bystanders were shot at Harvest Homecoming. They say Smith admitted to firing his gun into the air from the rides area of the festival, which they say hit the YMCA building twice. Officials have not confirmed whether he was one of the two people detained Sunday. Smith is in custody on a 15-day hold until Nov. 13. After that, bond will be set at $500,000 full cash. The case remains under investigation.
Here’s the original story:
Police detained two people stemming from raids early Sunday morning related to a fatal shooting during Harvest Homecoming in New Albany. Police said in a news release one of them has a “direct connection” to the case.
Bryce Gerlach, an 18-year-old Corydon Central High School student, was killed during the shooting Oct. 12 at Harvest Homecoming, an annual festival in downtown New Albany.
Two other people — a 22-year-old man and 42-year-old-woman — were injured. New Albany Police Chief Todd Bailey previously said investigators believe the victims were bystanders caught in gunfire during a dispute between at least two groups of people.
Officers from multiple agencies served search warrants at six locations early Sunday — four in New Albany, one in Jeffersonville and one in Louisville. In addition to detaining two people, police seized multiple guns, according to a news release.
“Today is a good day for our community,” Bailey said in the release. “Great strides were made today to ensure justice for Bryce and the others wounded during this act of senseless violence. Our team has worked tirelessly from the time of the incident to get to where we are today. Cases of this type are complicated and time consuming but our commitment to our community is our primary driving factor.”
Police have not identified who they detained and as of Monday, officials had not released information on any potential charges they may face. Smith was charged on Tuesday.
Officers with the New Albany and Jeffersonville police departments, Louisville Metro Police Department and Metro SWAT Team and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms executed the warrants Sunday morning.
On Saturday of this year’s Harvest Homecoming festival, people reported hearing multiple gunshots just before 10 p.m. near the area of State Street and Black Avenue, as well as the festival's ride area, Bailey said during a news conference the day after the shooting.
Bailey said police suspect there were likely multiple people firing from different locations, including the possibility of a person firing from within the carnival area of Harvest Homecoming.
The festival was canceled Sunday, which was scheduled to be the last day of the festival this year.
There has been an outpouring of community support following Gerlach’s death. Hundreds turned out for a vigil less than 24 hours after his death, and the community also honored the student and football player at what would have been his senior night game.
As of Monday, a GoFundMe page to help Gerlach’s family with funeral and other expenses had raised more than $47,000. The leftover money will be used to start the Bryce Gerlach Memorial Fund.
Coverage of Southern Indiana is funded, in part, by Samtec Inc., the Hazel & Walter T. Bales Foundation, and the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County.
