On the morning of August 20, 2017, police in Indianapolis, Indiana, launched a homicide investigation following the discovery of a deceased 44-year-old white male, Jason L. Hendershot, in the Fountain Square neighborhood. Officers were initially dispatched to the 2300 block of Hoyt Avenue around 4:00 a.m. in response to a report of a burglary in progress.
Upon their arrival, they were unable to locate the specific address mentioned in the 911 call but instead found Hendershot’s body lying outside a residence, suffering from fatal gunshot wounds.
The scene was active as homicide detectives began their work, and during the initial response, a man was observed fleeing from a nearby home. Police apprehended the individual and detained him for questioning to determine his potential involvement in the events unfolding on Hoyt Avenue. As the investigation continued, another man approached the detectives at the scene, claiming that he too had been shot. Officers questioned this second individual and subsequently took him into custody after discovering he had an outstanding warrant for his arrest, although reports at the time did not immediately identify him as the shooter of Hendershot.
Despite the questioning of these individuals and others from a nearby house, the case appears to have faced challenges in identifying a definitive suspect. Records from later in the year and cold case databases listed the investigation into Hendershot’s death as unsolved with the offender remaining unknown. The initial chaos of the morning, which included a reported burglary and multiple potential witnesses or involved parties, left investigators working to piece together the motive and sequence of events that led to the fatal shooting. No further public updates regarding specific charges or convictions related to Hendershot's death were available in the years following the incident.
