UPDATE (January 13, 2025):
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – The woman who was killed in an officer-involved shooting during a standoff with Fort Wayne police last Wednesday has been identified as 66-year-old Patricia Hepworth.
The Allen County Coroner’s Office released the following:
On Wednesday, January 8th, 2025, the Allen County Coroner’s Office was notified of a shooting that occurred in the 3500 block of Harris Road, in Fort Wayne. The victim was. transported to a local hospital and was later pronounced deceased.
The victim was identified as Patricia Hepworth, 66 years old, female, White of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Notification has been made to the legal next of kin and an autopsy has been completed. The Cause of Death is Multiple Gunshot Wounds and the Manner of Death Homicide-Police Action. Patricia Hepworth is the 2nd homicide for Allen County in 2025.
The incident remains under investigation by the Fort Wayne Police Department, Indiana State Police, the Allen County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Allen County Coroner’s Office.
WANE-TV reports that she was convicted of attempted murder and arson in 2000 for trying to kill her then-six-year-old daughter, Emily Scheiwe.
Hepworth served 22 years of a 50-year prison sentence, and Scheiwe says she is relieved that her mother is dead. She says she was a “very abusive” woman and says she does not understand why her mother was ever released from prison, according to WANE’s reporting.
Read more HERE
ORIGINAL STORY:
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – A woman is dead after she allegedly barricaded herself in an apartment at the Parkview Studios on Harris Road.
Around 12:30 p.m., officers with the Fort Wayne Police Department joined Indiana State Parole who were trying to contact the woman on a violation.
The FWPD says she refused to come out and that they tried to ‘de-escalate’ the situation. Police have not provided context for what happened next leading to an officer shooting the woman.
She died at an area hospital. An FWPD officer suffered a ‘minor’ injury, according to a press release.
The FWPD released the following:
On Wednesday January 8, 2025 the Fort Wayne Police Department responded to the Parkview Studios located at 3501 Harris Road to assist officers with the Indiana State Parole in reference to an individual barricaded inside an apartment while armed with a knife. Indiana State Parole Officers advised that they arrived at this location to make contact with an adult female who had a felony parole violation warrant. When the parole officers made contact with the female, she was inside her apartment armed with a knife at which time she barricaded herself inside the apartment.
At this time, officers with the Fort Wayne Police Department’s Emergency Services Team, Crisis Response Team, and Air Support Unit were dispatched to the scene. Several attempts were made to contact the female at which all attempts were unsuccessful. Members with the Emergency Services Team arrived at the female’s apartment and observed the female to be armed with a knife at which time officers attempted to deescalate the situation.
During the incident, shots were fired and the female was shot and transported to a local hospital where she succumbed her injuries. One officer was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries from the incident. Additional information will be released at a later time as it becomes available. The female’s identity will be released at a later time by the Allen County Coroner’s Office.
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