Fort Wayne Police Department, Indiana
End of Watch: Wednesday, March 10, 1926
Age: 36
Tour of Duty: 2 years
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: March 10, 1926
Weapon Used: Officer's handgun
Suspect Info: Paroled in 1967
Officer Matthew Gebhardt was shot and killed while attempting to arrest two brothers for being drunk in public. One of the brothers was able to obtain control of Officer Gebhardt's service revolver and opened fire. The shots struck both Officer Gebhardt and the man's brother, killing both.
The 21-year-old suspect was arrested and sentenced to life in prison for Officer Gebhardt's death. In 1933 he tricked doctors into thinking he had tuberculosis after he drink shellac. He was granted a 60 day parole for treatments. Once out he immediately joined John Dillinger and his gang and committed several robberies in Indiana and Kentucky. He was captured in East Chicago several weeks later and returned to prison. It was later discovered he committed several robberies during the years before he murdered Officer Gebhardt. He was paroled in 1944 but sent back to prison in 1946 to finish his life sentence after he was caught for safe cracking at the Farmer Supply store in Peru. He was paroled again in 1967.
Officer Gebhardt had served with the Fort Wayne Police Department for two years.