Brycen Demond Cassell-Thomas, 18-year-old Black male, was shot on the evening of April 12, 2023, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, as a gathering at McCormick Park turned from remembrance to panic. The memorial had drawn people together for a balloon release honoring Tyreece Vachon, who had been fatally shot the day before outside an apartment complex. As the crowd stood in the park, gunfire erupted, tearing through the moment and sending people running in every direction.
Police said dispatch began receiving multiple calls around 6:43–6:45 p.m. reporting shots fired and the likelihood of several victims near the intersection of McCormick Avenue and Redwood Avenue. When officers arrived in the 2300 block of Redwood Avenue, they saw a large group of people fleeing the area. In the immediate aftermath, one woman was found suffering from a gunshot wound; she was stabilized at the scene and then taken to a hospital. Investigators learned that three male shooting victims had already been transported to the hospital before officers arrived.
At the hospital, one of those men was pronounced dead. The Allen County Coroner later identified him as Brycen Demond Cassell-Thomas. After an autopsy, the coroner determined the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide. He was listed as the 10th homicide in Allen County in 2023.
In the information released publicly about the case, authorities described the incident as an active investigation involving the Fort Wayne Police Department alongside the Allen County Prosecutor’s Office and the Allen County Coroner’s Office. Those statements did not name any suspect, and they did not announce any arrests or charges connected to the shooting. Police instead urged anyone with information to come forward, emphasizing that investigators were still working to determine who opened fire and why the memorial became a crime scene.
