News release from the Fort Wayne Police Department:
Update: Homicide Investigation
Date/Time of Incident: March 20, 2013 at 7:53 a.m.
Location of Incident: E. Pettit Ave. & Reed St.
Victim: JACQUELINE BOUVIER HARDY, Age 49, Of Fort Wayne
Suspect: KENNETH KNIGHT, age 45, Fort Wayne; deceased.
At the scene of the homicide this morning detectives obtained information as to the identity of the murder suspect, Kenneth Knight. Detectives learned that Knight was the former boyfriend of Hardy, and that Hardy had recently obtained a protective order that listed Knight as the restrained party. Detectives then identified two possible locations for where Knight could be. The first location was a home in the 4100 block of Richfield Lane (Knight’s last known address) and the second location was a home in the 3000 block of Holton Avenue.
At approximately 10:00 am, the Emergency Services Team and Crisis Response Team responded to the home on Richfield Lane but did not locate the suspect there. At approximately 12:00 noon, at the Holton Avenue location, the residents of that home fled to safety when police arrived; the murder suspect however remained inside the home with a three-year old toddler. The Emergency Services Team and Crisis Response Team also responded to this location. Hostage negotiators made contact intermittently with the murder suspect who refused to surrender and who refused to release the toddler to safety. There is no known relationship between the toddler/hostage and Knight, and it is not clear what the exact relationship is between the resident(s) of the Holton Avenue home and Knight.
At approximately 4:30 pm, two members (sharpshooters) of the Emergency Services Team each fired a single shot simultaneously upon the murder suspect thereby fatally wounding him, and the three-year old hostage was rescued and was found to be unharmed. This ended a day-long search for the murder suspect.
The incident remains under investigation with the City of Fort Wayne Police, the Indiana State Police, the Allen County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, and the Allen County Coroner’s office. It is the department’s standard procedure when a police action shooting results in the death of any individual for the Indiana State Police to be called upon to conduct an independent parallel investigation to provide an objective view. Also, in accordance with departmental policy, the two EST members will be placed on administrative leave.
Related Images:
