Cops Seek Suspect After 4 'Gruesome' Killings

Police say Cohen Bennet Hancz-Barron should be considered 'extremely dangerous'
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 2, 2021 3:16 PM CDT
Manhunt Underway After Woman, 3 Kids Killed in Home
Fort Wayne police released this photo of Cohen Bennet Hancz-Barron.   (Fort Wayne police)

Three children and a woman were found slain Wednesday morning in a Fort Wayne home, and police asked for the public’s help finding a man they called the suspect in the killings. Police said Cohen Bennet Hancz-Barron, 21, was last seen driving a stolen pickup truck and is "considered armed and dangerous," the AP reports. The victims' bodies were discovered by police about 10:45am., after authorities received an initial report of an "unknown problem" at the residence, said Fort Wayne Police spokesman Sgt. Jeremy Webb. He called the scene that officers found in the home "gruesome" but did not indicate how the victims were killed. "When you have murdered children, it’s going to be gruesome," Webb said.

Webb said Hancz-Barron knew the woman and the three children, whom he said were "very young," but police do not know what his relationship was to the four victims. He said friends and family had identified Hancz-Barron as a suspect in the killings. The slayings likely occurred between 5am and 6am Wednesday, Webb said. He said Hancz-Barron was last seen driving a Ford F-150 that police believe had been stolen. "If the public does come across this vehicle or this suspect please call 911. He's extremely dangerous," Webb said. Out of 16 mass killings—defined as four or more dead, not including the perpetrator—in the US so far this year, this is the fourth in Indiana.

(More Indiana stories.)

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