Topeka police officer shot in gun battle after pursuing suspect car from earlier homicide
Numerous shots were fired Thursday morning in a gun battle near S. 6th and Kansas Avenue in downtown Topeka, wounding three people at the end of a police chase led by a man suspected of having committed an earlier homicide.
An officer was struck once by gunfire. He was released after being treated at a Topeka hospital, said Topeka Police Chief Brian Wheeles.
The office wore body armor, which "took the majority of the impact of the round" and prevented him from being hurt much more seriously, Wheeles said.
The fleeing car was left riddled with bullets after it struck a fire hydrant along S.E. 6th Avenue, just east of S. Kansas Avenue, where Wheeles said the driver then continued exchanging gunfire with responding officers.
That driver — Eric D. Perkins, 33, of Excelsior Springs, Mo. — was listed in serious condition late Thursday at a Topeka hospital, said Melissa Underwood, communications director for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
"He is being guarded by law enforcement," Wheeles said. "He poses no additional risk to the community at this time."
Perkins' one passenger, a 38-year-old woman, was a patient listed in good condition late Thursday at a Topeka hospital, Underwood said.
The names of the officer and Perkins' female passenger weren't being made public.
Wheeles said it was fortunate that a larger number of people weren't hurt or even killed.
"In this kind of setting, downtown, there's an element of luck when somebody takes this kind of indifference and brings this kind of violence to our community," he said.
10 law enforcement officers put on paid administrative leave
It is thought that nine Topeka police officers and one Shawnee County Sheriff's Office deputy fired during the incident, Underwood said.
Nine Topeka police officers and one sheriff's deputy were put on paid administrative leave while the shooting incident was being investigated, Wheeles and Sheriff Brian Hill said at an outdoor news conference held Thursday afternoon near the shootout scene.
Both departments make it standard protocol to put officers on paid administrative leave after they're involved in shooting incidents.
Shooting of Topeka police officer followed homicide
Thursday's shootout followed a double shooting, which occurred earlier that morning in the 3500 block of S.W. Kerry Avenue, which runs north and south and is located about three blocks west of S.W. Topeka Boulevard.
Police were called just after 9:30 a.m. to that location, where Wheeles said one victim died at the scene while the other was taken to a Topeka hospital, where that person was in stable condition Thursday afternoon.
The relationship between the suspect and the homicide victim was domestic in nature, said Topeka police Lt. Manuel Munoz.
Fatally shot was Gregory Dean Butts, 55, Munoz said.
The other person's name, age and gender weren't being made public.
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Driver fled area 'at a high rate of speed'
Topeka police quickly identified a "person of interest" in the homicide, Wheeles said.
With help from the sheriff's office, Topeka police began scouring the city to try to find that man, he said.
Preliminary information indicates a Topeka police officer saw Perkins driving a silver 2004 Toyota Corolla about 10:45 a.m. Thursday near S.E. Girard and Irvingham, Underwood said.
Officers in a marked police vehicle tried to stop the car, Wheeles said.
The driver fled the area at a "high rate of speed" and went through many adjacent neighborhoods, he said.
Driver fired at pursuing officers
The chase went north, then entered downtown Topeka as police supervisors pondered whether to discontinue it for safety reasons.
"The pursuit was authorized to continue based on the severity of the underlying criminal offense being first-degree murder, and the danger that the suspect posed to the community at large," Wheeles said.
"During the chase, Perkins began firing in the direction of pursuing officers," Underwood said. "Gunfire was returned by officers on several occasions during the pursuit. Deputies from the SNSO joined the chase."
Police later established crimes scenes at various sites along the car's path where shots had been fired.
Gunshots were thought to have been fired in the areas of S.E. Adams and Interstate 70, S.E. 10th and Adams, S.E. 10th and Madison, S.E. 10th and Quincy, and S. 10th and Kansas Avenue, Underwood said.
Topeka police asked all available area law enforcement officers to respond with their lights and sirens on, "due to their lives being in danger from the gunfire coming from the suspect's vehicle," Wheeles said.
Officers from multiple law enforcement agencies responded, he said.
The chase ended at S. 6th and Kansas Avenue, Wheeles said.
"The suspect continued to fire weapons at the pursuing officers throughout the pursuit, to its conclusion," he said. "Many police vehicles and one officer were struck by gunfire."
Kansas Bureau of Investigation is investigating shooting in Topeka
Multiple law enforcement agencies responded to S. 6th and Kansas Avenue, Munoz said.
"The suspect shot several times at law enforcement officers on the scene," and those officers fired back, he said.
Nearby Townsite Plaza, 120 S.E. 6th Ave., suffered window damage from bullets.
S. Kansas Avenue and 6th Street is about four miles north/northeast of the homicide scene.
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'Extreme indifference to life'
The Topeka Police Department is the lead agency investigating Thursday's homicide, Wheeles said.
At the request of Topeka police and the sheriff's office, the KBI is the lead agency investigating the chase and shooting incident that followed, Munoz said.
"The KBI will conduct a thorough and independent investigation into this incident," Underwood said. "Once completed, the findings will be turned over to the Shawnee County district attorney for review."
Wheeles asked anyone who might have video showing anything involved to contact the KBI at 1-800-572-7463 (KS-CRIME) or https://www.kbi.ks.gov/sar.
"This was a chaotic episode that was the result of a violent suspect who displayed extreme indifference to life and safety of those within my community," he said. "His actions were without regard for anyone else other than himself."
Wheeles said he was proud of Thursday's multiagency law enforcement response.
"There has been a tremendous outpouring of support from the community to the police department, and I am grateful for all who have reached out," he said.
Incident triggered staffing crunch at Topeka Police Department
Early Thursday afternoon, Topeka police initiated their walk-in accident reporting procedure, during which police will investigate traffic accidents only in certain, specific circumstances.
That move was made in response to a staffing crunch resulting from Thursday's exchange of gunfire, Wheeles confirmed.
"There's obviously a lot of resources involved in response and investigation," he said.
Perkins served prison time on a Johnson County conviction for fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer, committed in 2014, according to Kansas Department of Corrections records.
Tim Hrenchir can be reached at (785) 213-5934 or threnchir@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Three wounded in downtown Topeka shootout following homicide, chase
