FBI arrests ‘suspected serial killer’ responsible for deaths in Missouri and Kansas

(CNN) – The FBI said Monday it arrested a “suspected serial killer” believed to be responsible for killing six people and wounding two others in Missouri and Kansas.

Perez Reed, 25, was arrested Friday after getting off a train in Independence, Missouri, the FBI said in a news release.

Investigators said Reed had a ticket to travel from St. Louis to Kansas City, Missouri, and was carrying a .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol at the time of his arrest.

“This caliber matches firearm shell casings found in unsolved shootings in the City and County of St. Louis during September 2021,” the press release reads. “At least six victims were shot, four fatally, with the same .40 caliber firearm.”

CNN has reached out to Reed’s attorney for comment. Reed agreed on Friday to answer officers’ questions and denied harming anyone, according to an affidavit in the criminal complaint filed in federal court in Missouri.

The victims were shot between mid-September and the end of October, according to the schedule established in the affidavit.

Reed lived in St. Louis but had traveled to Kansas City, Kansas, the FBI said. That’s where two additional victims were shot to death, and the manner in which they died is consistent with shootings in the St. Louis area, the FBI said.

According to the affidavit, security at the latest victim’s apartment complex provided law enforcement with a photo of Reed’s driver’s license, which was used to enter the building. Surveillance video from the building showed a black man with a crescent tattoo on his forehead. That tattoo is consistent with the one seen in Reed’s mugshot.

In St. Louis County, Reed is charged with two counts of murder, one count of assault in the first degree and three counts of armed criminal action, according to the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office.

So far, Reed has been charged at the federal level with transporting a firearm between states with the intent to commit a felony, according to the criminal complaint.

The crimes continue to be investigated in the city of St. Louis and Kansas City. Reed has not been charged there.

Reed is in federal detention, according to the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office.