Hammond police said suspects fired 70 to 80 shots at a Chevron gas station.
HAMMOND, La. — A 50-year-old woman was killed early Thursday when gunmen opened fire on a parked car at a Chevron gas station in Hammond, police said.
Patricia Shepard was sitting inside the car when at least two suspects pulled up and fired dozens of rounds. Police said Shepard was not the intended target. Hammond Police Chief Edwin Bergeron Jr. said investigators believe the gunmen had followed the car because they thought another person was still inside.
The shooting happened about 1:15 a.m. June 4 at a Chevron station on U.S. 190. Police said the suspects had earlier watched the vehicle at Sanderson Farms, where the person believed to be the target had been in the car. That person later got out and left in another vehicle. “She was an absolute innocent victim,” Bergeron said. “She was not involved.”
Police said the car carrying Shepard later drove to the gas station. When the driver got out and went inside, a white sedan pulled beside the parked car. Two armed suspects got out and began shooting, police said. Investigators said 70 to 80 shots were fired. Shepard was struck multiple times and died at the scene. Security video captured the attack and showed the suspect vehicle leaving the station.
Bergeron said police are searching for at least two or three suspects. The suspect vehicle was described as a white 2008 Honda Civic with Mississippi license plate PJY050. Police said the car had been stolen Tuesday in Pike County, Mississippi, and was missing its front passenger window. Investigators said the suspects should be considered armed and dangerous.
The chief said the shooting did not appear to be random. He said investigators believe the suspects were watching the car and acted on a mistaken belief that their target was inside. The case has shaken Hammond, a Tangipahoa Parish city where police said the violence moved from a workplace area to a busy highway gas station before ending in Shepard’s death.
No arrests had been announced by Sunday. Detectives were reviewing video, tracking the stolen vehicle and seeking information on the people inside it. Bergeron said the department would keep working until the suspects are jailed. Police have not released a possible motive beyond saying the attack appeared to be tied to another person who had left the car before the shooting.
Family members told local reporters Shepard was a mother and a woman of faith. Her death turned a targeted attack into a case centered on a bystander who police say had no part in the dispute. The gas station scene, marked by shell casings and surveillance footage, became the focus of a homicide investigation stretching across Louisiana and Mississippi.
The investigation remained active Sunday, June 7. Police were still looking for the stolen white Honda Civic and the suspects tied to the gunfire.
Author note: Last updated June 7, 2026.