An evening memorial in Fort Wayne turned deadly on April 12, 2023, when gunfire erupted at McCormick Park during a balloon release for Tyreece Vachon. Calls to dispatch came in around 6:43–6:45 p.m. reporting shots near McCormick Avenue and Redwood Avenue. Officers arriving in the 2300 block of Redwood saw a large crowd fleeing. Three male shooting victims were taken to a hospital before officers arrived; one of them, 18-year-old Black male Brycen Demond Cassell-Thomas, was pronounced dead there.

The Allen County Coroner ruled the cause of death multiple gunshot wounds and the manner homicide, listing Cassell-Thomas as the county’s 10th homicide of 2023. Authorities described the case as an active investigation involving the Fort Wayne Police Department, the Allen County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Coroner’s Office, and did not name any suspect or announce arrests or charges. Police asked anyone with information about who opened fire or why the memorial became a crime scene to come forward.