Thread: Two Topeka, Kan., police officers killed in shootout

December 16, 2012, 11:47 PM

Two Topeka, Kan., police officers killed in shootout


Officials stand outside a Topeka, Kan., grocery store, where two police officers where killed in a shootout on Dec. 16, 2012. / WIBW-TV

Updated 11:48 p.m. ET

TOPEKA, Kan. Authorities say two Kansas police officers shot outside a grocery store have died at a hospital.

Police say the 22-year-old male suspect in Sunday evening's shooting in Topeka remains at large and is believed to still be armed.

CBS affiliate WIBW-TV in Topeka reports the name of the suspect being sought is David Edward Tiscareno, a Topeka resident.

The officers were shot when they responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle near the store. The officers have been identified as 50-year-old Cpl. David Gogian and 29-year-old Officer Jeff Atherly.

A witness told WIBW the shooting happened just outside the entrance of Dillons. The witness said he heard three gun clips emptied, then heard another series of shots.

A small crowd gathered for a candlelight vigil outside police headquarters as reporters nearby were given the news of the officers' deaths.

Gogian had been with the department since September 2004 and Atherly since April 2011.

Authorities found the reported vehicle outside a house 10 blocks from the store.
Officers searched the house but didn't find the suspect.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57559496/two-topeka-kan-police-officers-killed-in-shootout/

SInce this is here, can we assume the shooter is an immigrant?

Suspect in standoff is dead after fatal shooting of two Topeka officers

Star News Services
The Associated Press
Updated: 2012-12-17T16:27:45Z


Thad Allton
Bystanders watch as Topeka police investigate at the scene of a shooting outside a grocery store in Topeka, Kan., Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012. Two Kansas police officers were shot outside the store on Sunday while responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle and died later at a hospital, authorities said. (AP Photo/The Topeka Capital Journal, Thad Allton)



TOPEKA -- Two police officers were fatally shot outside a grocery store in Topeka while responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle Sunday evening, and authorities surrounded a house before dawn this morning seeking the suspected gunman, authorities said.

A two-hour standoff at the house near Southwest Third Street and Western Avenue ended shortly before 6:30 a.m., after police fired tear gas and bullets into the home. A person removed from the home was taken away in an ambulance with a police escort.

KCTV-5 reports that officers surrounded the home after receiving a tip, and yelled the suspect's name, believed to be 22-year-old David Edward Tiscareno.
SWAT team officers lobbed tear gas into the home just after 6 a.m. and the suspect came out of the home carrying a gun.

Shots were fired by law enforcement, and the suspect was hit and transported to a an area hospital. It is unknown at this time if the suspect fired the gun he was carrying. The suspect was pronounced dead at the hospital. His name has not been released.

Topeka Police Chief Ronald Miller called the Sunday evening shootings of Cpl. David Gogian and Officer Jeff Atherly “unspeakable.” He said Gogian, 50, and Atherly, 29, both were shot in the head by a gunman who opened fire on them within minutes of their arrival to investigate the vehicle.

“It’s clearly beyond words. It’s unspeakable almost about why this happens and why this is happening in America at this stage in our history,” Miller said.

Police believed a 22-year-old man fired on the officers from the vehicle. He remained at large Sunday night.

Miller didn’t know the motive for the shooting in central Topeka but said the suspect has a criminal history, though he wouldn’t elaborate.

A third officer who went to the scene to check on the vehicle was not injured in the shooting.

Gogian and Atherly were taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead.

The call about the vehicle came shortly after 6 p.m. Sunday, police said. Gogian and Atherly had arrived as backup for another officer when someone in the vehicle they were investigating started shooting.

“I don’t believe they had any idea this situation was going to go this direction as quickly as it did,” Miller said.

Police would not say whether the officers had reached the vehicle when they were shot or what kind of gun was used in the shooting.

Miller said there was more than one person in the vehicle, which later was found outside a house about 10 blocks from the grocery store. Officers searched the home but didn’t find the shooting suspect.

The chief declined to say why officers were investigating the vehicle and why it was considered suspicious.

Old neighborhoods, economically and ethnically diverse, surround the grocery store. Some of the homes are a century old, and they vary in how well they’ve been kept up. Green space behind the store is home to an annual art fair, and the city’s public library is within walking distance.

A small crowd met for a candlelight vigil Sunday night outside police headquarters after hearing about the shooting. As the group gathered, police officials announced to reporters nearby that the officers had died.

Gogian started with the Topeka Police Department in September 2004. Atherly had been with the department since April 2011.

Miller said Gogian was a retired military serviceman. It wasn’t immediately clear what branch of the military. He has a son who’s also a Topeka police officer.
“He had spent his life in service to his country and in the city of Topeka,” the chief said.

Meanwhile, Atherly was “just getting started” in his career, he said.
The last time a Topeka officer was killed in the line of duty was 2000, and it’s been longer than that – since 1995 – that one was fatally shot on the job.

Suspect in standoff is dead after fatal shooting of two Topeka officers - KansasCity.com

Enlarge Photo
David Edward Tiscareno, 22, identified …