FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) Police are investigating the deaths of a woman and child found in a north side Fort Wayne home following a reported shooting Wednesday morning.
Emergency crews were sent to the 1100 block of Skyline Pass northeast of the intersection of Coldwater and Cook Roads at around 8:35 a.m. in the Lincoln Village neighborhood.
According to Fort Wayne police, a relative may have found the bodies and called 911. It has not yet been determined if the two had been shot. Their identities have not been released.
By Wednesday evening, a small memorial was set up outside the home with bouquets of flowers.
WANE 15 spoke with multiple neighbors about the woman who lived inside the home on Wednesday.
They said she was one of the nicest, best people they knew. Former neighbors who recently moved away even drove to Skyline Pass Wednesday as the scene unfolded.
Many told WANE 15 that living on Skyline Pass is like having a giant, extended family.
That includes State Representative Martin Carbaugh (81st Dist.) who lives next door to where the incident happened.
“Its an unexplainable grief being felt right now,” Carbaugh said. “I’ve known our neighbor since I was 5-years-old. Her dad was my basketball coach in eighth grade. We’d go to church with them. We’re very close. Our kids spent a lot of time over there with their son, and they’ve really been, kind of, an extended part of the family.”
“Their oldest son graduated with my oldest daughter from Concordia, grade school and high school, and then their youngest son was very close with my kids – like an extended brother.”
Carbaugh said he was at his apartment in Indianapolis getting ready for the day when he got a Ring doorbell notification and saw someone was at his front door and seemed “frantic.”
He said he got in touch with his wife and then learned what happened. After that, he said he had a hard time concentrating and didn’t eat the breakfast he was preparing. He hopped in the car and drove to Fort Wayne.
“My wife and I have talked about having to tell the kids now once they get out of school, and that’s probably the most difficult thing in the immediate present, to figure out what to do and what to say,” Carbaugh added.
The bodies of the woman and child could be seen being taken from the home just before 1 p.m. as a dozen neighbors watched, some shedding tears and hugging those close to them.
The victims’ names and manner of death are expected to be released by the Allen County Coroner’s Office pending autopsies.
