Connecticut

CT Man Wanted for Murder in Tennessee Shot Dead in Texas

A man from Kent who was wanted for murder and attempted murder after a couple was stabbed in Tennessee, was shot and killed in an altercation with a deputy sheriff in Texas, according to police.

Nashville Police said 34-year-old Peter Alexander Bohning was shot in Gaines County, Texas.  He was taken to the hospital where he later died, they said.

According to authorities, a Gaines County deputy was stabbed during the altercation and was taken to an El Paso Hospital. The deputy's injuries are reportedly not life-threatening.

The Gaines County deputy encountered Bohning while answering a call about a suspicious vehicle. The suspicious vehicle was the gray 2010 Toyota Camry that was taken from a couple in Tennessee after they were stabbed last week, police said.

Over the weekend, arrest warrants for murder and attempted murder were issued against Bohning, who was accused of stabbing Donald and Leigh Ann Zirkle at their home on Cherokee Road in Nashville, officers said.

Police were called to the area around 3:30 p.m. on Friday after Leigh Ann Zirkle, 58, fled the couple's home and collapsed in the street with significant wounds, including one to her neck, authorities said. Neighbors helped her until paramedics arrived.

Once officers arrived to the scene, they cleared the home and said they found Donald Zirkle, 59, critically wounded at the back of the home. He was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.

Detectives said although Leigh Ann Zirkle was seriously wounded, she was able to communicate with them at the hospital.

According to investigators, the Zirkles were sitting on their back porch when a stranger, described as a man in his 20s to 30s with long blonde hair and a dirty yellow shirt approached them and asked for directions before attacking the couple with a sharp instrument. Leigh Ann Zirkle was able to make it into the house and ran out the front door into the street.

A silver Subaru sedan with Connecticut license plates was found parked in the street at the side of the house with its rear doors open, police said.

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