Two Topeka Police Officers Murdered

[Danang Sailor]

Officers answering a "suspicious vehicle" call at a Topeka grocery store were murdered last night. When they
approached the car a person inside opened fire, hitting both officers in the head. A house not far from the store was
surrounded where the suspected shooter was holed up and after some hours of attempting to get the man to give up
teargas was shot in and the suspect forced out. He came out wielding a gun, and was killed by SWAT officers. They are
calling this guy the "major suspect" so there may be more to the story.

A news conference has been announced for 1:00 PM, about ten minutes from now. I'll update this if more information is
passed. In the meantime, the entire town is coming together to mourn the two officers; it has been 12 years since Topeka
lost an officer in the line of duty, and 16 years since one was lost to gunfire.

 

[Galvatron]

Such terrible news...my thoughts and prayers go out the the victims loved ones.

 

[Danang Sailor]

UPDATE:

A concerned citizen called 911 to report possible drug activity in the store parking lot; at this time it simply isn't clear what
that meant, either use or dealing. When the officers responded at about 8:03 PM there were three people in the car; the officers
ordered them out and as the two in the front were exiting the guy in the back stepped out and opened fire at extreme close range
(approximately four feet), hitting both officers in the head. A third officer who had just arrived on-scene returned fire but the
shooter was not hit. The shooter jumped into the front seat of the car (the other two had wisely hit the ground) and drove
off at high speed.

After chasing a couple of false leads the shooter was located at 2:00 AM. Four hours were spent in trying to resolve the
situation without more shooting, but without success. At 6:00 AM a final warning was given and ignored, and teargas was
fired into the residence. The shooter came out armed and a total of seven shots were fired by the officers. An ambulance
transported him to a local hospital, where he died.

The officers who fired the fatal shots have been placed on administrative leave while the final shooting is investigated by
the Shawnee County DA. They will be restored to duty once the shooting is officially determined to be righteous.

A memorial fund has been established for the slain officers, pictured below.

Cpl David Gogian Officer Jeff Atherly

 

[muleman]

Saw that in the paper this morning. Damn shame to lose 2 good officers like that. Their vests did no good as both were head shot. Sounds like the guy was well practiced to get them both.