Missouri police have arrested a 25-year-old man they believe is responsible for six murders that happened in St. Louis and Kansas City. KSDK’s Christine Byers reports.
According to the FBI, a “suspected serial killer” was apprehended with the semi-automatic weapon he reportedly used in many slayings in the St. Louis area and Kansas City, Kansas, within weeks.
According to Richard Quinn, special agent in charge of the FBI’s St. Louis Division, there were six shootings in September from the same weapon (according to the bullet casings) in St. Louis County and St. Louis City, in which four individuals were killed.
According to a probable cause document, the acts in St. Louis were committed within two weeks.
According to the affidavit:
- A victim was waiting at a bus stop on Sept. 12 when he was shot from behind without warning.
- A victim was fatally shot in the head and arm the next day.
- On September 16th, a victim was shot in the face and survived, while a second victim was shot in the skull and died.
- The final two fatal shootings occurred on September 18 and September 26.
Witnesses and a victim provided a description of the suspect that included some unusual physical attributes, but law enforcement hit “a little bit of a wall,” according to Quinn.
Quinn credited Kansas City police with disclosing the identify of a suspect in two fatal shootings, 25-year-old Perez Reed, to St. Louis police. The FBI was then able to compare the data and connect the cases, according to Quinn.
Perez Reed was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one crime of assault, and three counts of armed criminal action in St. Louis County.
According to the affidavit, Reed, who lives in St. Louis, traveled on an Amtrak train from St. Louis to Kansas City, Missouri on Oct. 28. According to the affidavit, surveillance video showed a victim holding an apartment building door open for Reed that night, and video showed the two going into the victim’s apartment together. T he deceased was discovered dead on November 1.
According to the complaint, Reed was seen on surveillance video entering the same apartment complex on Oct. 29. According to the affidavit, Reed also provided his driver’s license to security personnel at the premises. According to the complaint, a second victim was found dead in her residence on Nov. 2, shot in the head and upper back.
Suspected Serial Killer
Reed was dubbed a “suspected serial killer” by the FBI.
Reed was caught aboard a train from Kansas City, Missouri, to St. Louis on Friday. When he stepped off the train at Independence, Missouri, he was taken into custody without incident, according to the FBI.
Reed was caught with a.40 caliber semi-automatic pistol, according to the FBI, and the weapon matched the shell cases in St. Louis and St. Louis County. According to St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, the firearm also matched casings found at the Kansas City crime scenes.
The victims do not appear to be linked, according to detectives, who described the shootings as “random actions.”
Reed was seized by an FBI task force and is currently being held in federal custody, according to Bell. He was charged with interstate transportation of a handgun with the intent to commit a criminal felony at the federal level.
According to the complaint, Reed informed detectives after his arrest that he found the gun in Jennings, Missouri, and brought it to Kansas with him. According to the complaint, Reed admitted to knowing one of the victims but denied harming anyone.
On Monday, Reed appeared in court for the first time. He waived his right to a detention hearing, and a preliminary examination has been scheduled for November 22.
Reed was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of assault, and three counts of armed criminal action in St. Louis County, according to Bell, who added that he faces further charges in other counties.
He has not entered a plea.
“I am waiting on both the federal and state prosecutors to give over all of the evidence/police reports they have so that I can start drafting Mr. Reed’s legal defense,” Reed’s attorney said in an email to ABC News on Tuesday.
