TOPEKA (KSNT) – Law enforcement have identified the murder suspect at the center of a police chase through downtown Topeka.
According to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Eric D. Perkins, 33, of Excelsior Springs, Missouri was arrested on Thursday as the primary suspect in a shooting that left one person dead and another wounded in the early morning hours in south Topeka. Perkins was critically injured by police following a pursuit through the city that ended in the downtown area.
According to the KBI, it is believed that nine Topeka Police Department officers and one Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office deputy fired their weapons during the incident.
At 9:32 a.m. on Sept. 29, members of the TPD responded to a call of a shooting in the 3500 block of Kerry in south Topeka. Upon arrival, they found one person dead and another injured as the result of gunshot wounds.
Police quickly left the scene a short time after 27 News arrived as another officer spotted the murder suspect’s vehicle in the Hi-Crest Neighborhood. A police pursuit ensued after officers tried to pull Perkins over and he refused to stop. Perkins began to fire in the direction of pursuing officers who returned fire on several occasions. The KBI believes that gunshots were fired in the areas of 1-70 and Adams St., 10th St. and Adams St., 10th St. and Madison St., 10th St. and Kansas Ave., and 10th St. and Quincy. The pursuit ended when Perkins’ vehicle crashed into a fire hydrant in the downtown area at the intersection of 6th Street and Kansas Avenue.
Perkins was hit during an exchange of gunfire with officers who were then able to take him into custody. A 38-year-old female passenger also sustained non-life-threatening wounds during the incident. One officer was wounded after being shot during the confrontation but his ballistic vest prevented him from taking more serious injuries.
The KBI reported that Perkins remains in critical, but stable, condition. The officer who was wounded in the confrontation has been treated and released. The female passenger who was in the same vehicle as Perkins remains hospitalized and is in good condition.
The investigation is ongoing and no further information will be released at this time.