It’s a matter of rate. Chicago has around 2.8 million people within city limits while Indy has fewer than 850,000. The murder rate in Indy spiked last year and appears to be spiking even higher this year, indicating that an already-bad murder situation is becoming even worse.
It’s not a good sign.
It is concerning for sure. It's also a bit inexplicable (speaking from a local citizens perspective). It's not lack of police (that rarely has anything to do with murder rates) as cases are getting closed at a normal rate. I haven't heard of our judicial system releasing more criminals. I don't know about any correlation between the homicides and potential transients involved. But I do know that there have been several self defense shootings around Indy as well. It has been mostly black on black murders as well. Of course this is a total enigma, wrapped in a riddle of mystery and intrigue, similar to world hunger and peace in the Middle East.