TOPEKA, (KSNT)— Kansas Treasurer Lynn Rogers was inside a building just feet away from a shootout that occurred in downtown Topeka on Friday.
In an interview with Kansas Capitol Bureau, Rogers said he was in a meeting inside KPERS, a state office building, just across from Townsite Tower, where the shootout came to an abrupt close.
“In the board room, we didn’t hear anything, so I understand there were multiple shots fired and a lot of action,” Rogers said. “People were telling us there were a lot of cop cars out here and they were all responding to the incident.”
Rogers said he was able to keep up with the incident through social media and messaging via text. He reported that he was safe following the shooting, which has been described as a “chaotic episode.”
Kansas Capitol Bureau also obtained video from SJ Hazim, who witnessed the shootout outside Townsite Tower, as he was inside his office in the building.
In the video, several gunshots are fired, as police swarm toward the shooter.
“All we heard was sirens… and we started seeing gunshots… and we saw that he was shooting at the cops, the cops were shooting back,” Hazim said. “I was just hoping no one was going to get shot inside the building, because so many gunshots were going off, you just never know, so we had no idea what was going on.”
The KBI recently released their initial report of the shooting, including the ID of the murder suspect captured by law enforcement.