The Allen County Coroner’s Office identified the woman fatally shot by Fort Wayne Police last week as 66-year-old Patricia Hepworth.
Hepworth was living in an apartment at 3501 Harris Road, on parole for a Class- A felony arson from Lake County. She was originally charged in 2000 with attempted murder and arson and released to parole in 2023, according to public records.
On Wednesday, the Indiana Department of Correction Division of Parole Services had gone to her apartment to serve a warrant for a parole violation.
Hepworth barricaded herself in the apartment while armed with a knife, and the parole officers called the Fort Wayne Police Department. FWPD sent the Emergency Services Team, the Crisis Response Team, and the Air Support Unit.
One officer was injured in the incident on Wednesday.
Hepworth was shot multiple times and died. Her death was ruled a police-action homicide. It is the second homicide in Allen County in 2025, according to the Allen County Coroner’s Office.
