The victim of a Fort Wayne Police officer-involved shooting Saturday night has been formally identified as 22-year-old Linzell Pahrm, a program director at the Euell A. Wilson Center.
Little information has been released Monday afternoon beyond a press release from the police department in the early hours of Sunday morning, and then a statement by Fort Wayne Mayor Sharon Tucker a few hours later.
But at the Wilson Center, posters paying tribute to Parhm were already papering over the windows and grief counselors had already been there by Monday afternoon.
Shirley Woods founded the Euell A. Wilson Center in memory of her son, a local football standout who passed away in his sleep in the 1990s and she is now mourning Parhm's death. She described him as a "jewel of a person", and one who felt like her own grandson.
He was beloved by the children who attended the center.
"He was here to add to your life and that do withdrawals he was always making deposits in somebody's life he was a giver he was so patient with the kids," Woods said.
Grief counselors from Erin's House for Grieving Children had been there Monday as the staff members talked to the children about Parhm's death. Many of them wondered if he would be coming back.
And everyone wonders why, Woods said.
As of Monday evening, little information was available as to why, what exactly happened at the intersection of John and Hurd streets around 10:30 p.m. Saturday.
The FWPD has said that the shooting occurred after an officer pulled over a vehicle. No reason for the stop has been given.
As for the shooting, the city is saying only that "actions from the occupants of the vehicle caused the officer to discharge their weapon," according to a release.
An eyewitness video appears to show the officer pointing his gun at the vehicle and instructing someone not to reach for a gun before firing twice at the vehicle.
FWPD have not yet said what initially prompted the officer to draw his weapon nor whether or not Parhm was alone in the vehicle.
On Sunday, Mayor Sharon Tucker released a general statement urging the city as a whole to “come together as residents of our great city and support one another.”
On Monday, city council representatives, city officials, and community leaders had stopped by the youth center, Woods said.
Parhm had been a member of the youth center when he was younger. After he graduated from barber school, there was a need for additional help at the center, and he filled in, working part-time and using his skills as a barber at times to help the children, she said.
Woods says she feels like the children at the center have been robbed of Pahrm’s mentorship and kindness.
"Like I told the kids, we have our theme this this year this summer is being kind to one another. And I was able to tie in, 'Was Mr. Linzell, did Mr. Linzell put kindness on display?'," she said. "And over and over and over, 'Yes. Yes. Yes.
"He was known to be a kind person so I thought it was a good thing that our whole thing for the summer was something he lived in front of them."
The Fort Wayne Police Department, Indiana State Police, Allen County Coroner and Allen County Prosecutor’s Office are investigating the shooting. The name of the office has not been released, and he remains on administrative leave, per department policy.
