Jan 10, 2025
*The video above is WANE 15 coverage of the officer-involved shooting from Wednesday. FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) -- The Allen County Coroner's Office has identified the woman who died following a standoff that led to an officer-involved shooting at a Fort Wayne hotel Wednesday. The coroner identified the woman as 66-year-old Patricia Hepworth of Fort Wayne. The cause of death is multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death is "homicide-police action," and Hepworth's death marks the second homicide in Allen County in 2025. The incident started Wednesday afternoon when police responded to a hotel off Harris Road on reports of a barricaded person armed with a knife. Parole officers at the scene also informed police that Hepworth reportedly had a felony parole violation warrant. Woman dead, officer injured following investigation at Fort Wayne apartment According to the Fort Wayne Police Department (FWPD), several attempts to contact Hepworth were unsuccessful, and police shot her during the incident. Police have not yet disclosed what led to shots being fired during the standoff. EMS transported Hepworth to a hospital where she later died. An officer also suffered "minor" injuries during the incident, although it is unknown how the injury happened. While it's not clear what parole violation brought officers to the hotel, Hepworth was convicted in 2000 of attempted murder and arson in Lake County in the northwest part of the state. In that case, Hepworth was accused of giving her then 6-year-old daughter a large dose of valium and then setting her apartment on fire, according to reports from The Times of Northwest Indiana. Hepworth escaped the fire while her daughter suffered burns over the entirety of her body, the newspaper reported. The girl survived the fire. After Hepworth was sentenced to 50 years in prison, the girl's father took full custody of the child. In 2001, the Indiana Court of Appeals issued a memorandum reversing Hepworth's attempted murder conviction while upholding her sentence. Hepworth served more than 22 years in prison before she was released, according to state records. According to Lake County Superior Court records, Hepworth's daughter wrote in a 2022 letter to court officials she did not believe her mother should be released from prison. WANE 15 learned that Hepworth stayed at a local home for women dealing with addiction and mental health issues before moving to Parkview Studios this past fall. The FWPD, Indiana State Police, the Allen County Sheriff's Department and the Allen County Coroner's Office are still investigating the incident. The FWPD said more information will be released "as it becomes available." The officers involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave per FWPD policy.
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