Suspected serial killer arrested in Missouri

Man apprehended after being followed by FBI agents on train and bus

A man thought to be involved in six murders and several shootings in St Louis and Kansas City has been arrested.

Perez Reed is a suspect in two murders and a shooting in St Louis, Missouri, and two additional homicides in St Louis County that took place in September, KSDK reported.

Police sources told the outlet that he used a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson pistol in all of the shootings.

Investigators are also said to have found evidence linking Mr Reed to two further homicides in a Kansas City, Kansas apartment building late last month. Most of the victims were women, some them sex workers.

KSDK reported other victims were known to have been dressing as women. Some of the victims didn’t fit into a pattern.

Kansas City police called their St Louis counterparts late last month after a man and a woman were found dead in two separate units in the same apartment building. Law enforcement linked a train ticket from Kansas City to St Louis to the suspect’s cellphone, prompting FBI agents to follow Mr Reed onto the train and then onto a bus.

The 25-year-old Mr Reed, from Bellefontaine Neighbors, Missouri was arrested when he exited the bus in Independence, Missouri on Friday.

He was apprehended with the supposed murder weapon and shoes matching evidence found at the crime scenes, prompting him to be charged with a federal count of transporting firearms across state lines with the intent to commit a felony, KSDK reported.

The office of St Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell charged Mr Reed with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault.

Some of the victims were shot in the back of their heads. Police reportedly think that the victims didn’t know each other and that they didn’t know their killer.

Court documents show that Mr Reed doesn’t have a large criminal history. His bail has been set at $2m and he’s being held at a federal holding centre. A motive for the killing has not yet been reported.

While in police custody, Mr Reed confirmed his phone number to law enforcement officials and admitted to showing his ID to a guard at the apartment building in Kansas City where two of the bodies were discovered, but he denied that he hurt anyone.

Prosecutors allege that Mr Reed shot a man multiple times on 12 September in St Louis County, permanently disabling him. The man was waiting for a bus when Mr Reed allegedly shot him several times in the back without warning.

Court documents reveal that Mr Reed’s wife filed for divorce in July in Jackson County, Missouri and that she now lives in Kansas City, Kansas, with a court hearing set for early December, KSDK reported.