On a Sunday evening in Topeka, Kansas, the life of 50-year-old David Scott Gogian, a White/Caucasian male, was cut short in a sudden act of violence. It was December 16, 2012, and Gogian, a corporal with the Topeka Police Department, was on duty. He and a fellow officer, Jeffrey Atherly, were dispatched to a grocery store parking lot to investigate a suspicious vehicle.
What began as a routine check escalated into a tragedy that would deeply impact the community.
The officers made contact with the occupants of the vehicle. During the interaction, one of the individuals, later identified as 22-year-old David Edward Tiscareno, opened fire. Both Corporal Gogian and Officer Atherly were struck by the gunfire. The shooter then fled the scene, leaving the two officers with fatal injuries. A third officer present at the scene was unharmed. The incident sparked an intense manhunt for the suspect, who was considered armed and extremely dangerous.
The search for Tiscareno led law enforcement to a house in Topeka where he had barricaded himself. A tense standoff ensued that lasted for several hours. The confrontation reached its climax the following morning, on December 17, 2012. When Tiscareno emerged from the house brandishing a firearm, he was shot and killed by police. With the death of the sole suspect, the investigation into the murders of Corporal Gogian and Officer Atherly concluded, leaving a community to mourn the loss of two of its protectors.
David Gogian was a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and the Kansas Air National Guard, where he retired as a Senior Master Sergeant. He had served with the Topeka Police Department for eight years as a full-time officer, having previously been a reserve officer. He was a husband and a father to four children, one of whom also served as a Topeka police officer.
