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Topeka Police Department
Cpl. David Gogian, 50, had been with the Topeka Police Department since September 2004.
TOPEKA, Kan. — A police standoff in connection with the fatal shootings of two Topeka, Kan., police officers ended with the suspected gunman dead from police fire early Monday, according to local officials.
After the man refused to exit a home police had surrounded, officers launched tear gas to drive him out.
“At approximately 6 a.m., after numerous attempts to make contact with the individual, gas was deployed, and the suspect came out carrying a gun,” Jay Simecka of the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release. “Shots were fired by law enforcement, and the suspect was hit and transported to a local hospital for treatment. It is unknown at this time if the suspect fired the gun he was carrying.”
The man, who police identified as 22-year-old David Edward Tiscareno of Topeka, later died from his wounds at the hospital, NBC station KMBC in Kansas City, reported.
Police believe Tiscareno shot and killed Cpl. David Gogian, 50, and Officer Jeff Atherly, 29, while they were responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle at a grocery store. The gunman opened fire on them within minutes of their arrival.
They died later at the hospital, Topeka Police Chief Ronald Miller said, calling the shootings “unspeakable,” the Associated Press reported.
A third officer was at the scene when the shooting happened, but was not injured.
Topeka Police Department
Officer Jeff Atherly, 29, had been with the Topeka Police Department since April 2011.
Miller said there was more than one person in the vehicle that police were investigating. Officers later found the vehicle outside a house about 10 blocks from the grocery store, but when they searched the home they didn't find the shooting suspect, the AP reported.
The chief declined to say why officers were investigating the vehicle and why it was considered suspicious.
A small crowd met for a candlelight vigil outside police headquarters after hearing about the shooting. As the group gathered, police officials announced to reporters nearby that the officers had died, the AP reported.
Gogian started with the Topeka Police Department in September 2004. Atherly had been with the department since April 2011.
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