Investigators said the suspects followed a car before firing dozens of rounds into it.
HAMMOND, La. — Police searched Sunday for gunmen accused of killing Patricia Shepard after following a car and firing 70 to 80 rounds at a Hammond gas station.
The Hammond Police Department said Shepard, 50, was an innocent passenger who was caught in a planned attack aimed at someone else. Chief Edwin Bergeron Jr. said the person believed to be the target had been in the car earlier but was not there when the gunfire began.
The chain of events began before dawn Thursday, police said. Investigators believe the suspects watched a vehicle at Sanderson Farms, thinking their target was inside. The target later got out and rode away with someone else. The vehicle carrying Shepard then left the area and stopped at a Chevron gas station on U.S. 190. Bergeron said the suspects followed it there.
Police said the driver of Shepard’s car went inside the station. Moments later, a white sedan pulled next to the vehicle at the pump. Two armed suspects then opened fire into the car, striking Shepard multiple times. Officers responded about 1:15 a.m. and found her dead inside the parked car. Surveillance video showed the suspect vehicle leaving after the shooting.
Investigators identified the suspect car as a white 2008 Honda Civic with Mississippi license plate PJY050. Police said it was stolen June 2 in Pike County, Mississippi, two days before the killing. The car was missing its front passenger window. Authorities said at least two or three people may have been involved, and no suspect names had been released.
Bergeron said the case stood out because of the number of shots fired and because Shepard had no connection to the intended target. “We will not rest until the scumbags like this go to jail,” he said at a news conference. Police said the attack was not believed to be a random drive-by shooting.
The shooting put detectives on a search that crosses parish and state lines. Investigators were working to find the stolen Civic, review gas station video and identify the people seen in the vehicle. Police have not said whether they recovered weapons or whether the intended target has been interviewed. The motive remained under investigation.
Shepard’s relatives described her in local reports as a mother who loved the Bible. Her death has drawn grief and anger in Hammond, where the violent burst of gunfire killed a woman police said was simply sitting in the wrong car at the wrong time. The gas station remained central to the case because its cameras recorded the suspects’ arrival and escape.
As of Sunday, June 7, the Hammond Police Department had not announced arrests. The next milestone in the case is the recovery of the stolen Honda Civic or the public identification of suspects.
Author note: Last updated June 7, 2026.