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Nashville murder suspect with Connecticut ties has died after being shot in altercation with Texas deputy, police say

  • This car, registered to Kent resident Peter Alexander Bohning, was...

    Provided by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department

    This car, registered to Kent resident Peter Alexander Bohning, was found at the scene of a fatal stabbing in Nashville, Tenn.

  • Peter Alexander Bohning, 34, is a Kent resident.

    Provided by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department

    Peter Alexander Bohning, 34, is a Kent resident.

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A murder suspect from Connecticut has died after he was shot during a clash with law enforcement in Texas, Nashville police said.

A Gaines County, Texas deputy was stabbed during the altercation and was being rushed to an El Paso hospital, they said. The deputy is expected to survive the injuries.

Bohning, 34, is suspected of fatally stabbing a man and seriously wounded his wife in an attack in Nashville, Tenn. Friday.

Police in Nashville, Tenn., said over the weekend that they were searching for Bohning, who is from western Connecticut town of Kent. The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department posted on social media Saturday that arrest warrants have been issued for the man, with charges of murder and attempted murder.

According to a press release posted on the department’s website, Bohning was wanted for questioning after his car was found parked outside the victims’ home, police said.

Police said that a man walked up to the West Nashville home of Donald and Leigh Ann Zirkle at about 3:30 p.m. Friday. The couple was sitting on the back porch, 58-year-old Leigh Ann Zirkle told police, when the man, who they did not know, approached and asked for directions.

The man then attacked the couple with a “sharp instrument,” and Leigh Ann Zirkle managed to escape out the home’s front door and into the street. Leigh Ann Zirkle collapsed in the street with multiple wounds, including one to her neck, and her neighbors helped her, police said.

Police said they believe that the suspect then took the couple’s car and fled the scene.

This car, registered to Kent resident Peter Alexander Bohning, was found at the scene of a fatal stabbing in Nashville, Tenn.
This car, registered to Kent resident Peter Alexander Bohning, was found at the scene of a fatal stabbing in Nashville, Tenn.

When the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department and the Nashville Fire Department arrived at the couple’s home, they found 59-year-old Donald Zirkle “critically wounded” at the rear of the house. Emergency personnel took Donald Zirkle to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he later died, police said.

Leigh Ann Zirkle also was transported to the hospital with serious injuries, but she survived and was able to communicate with detectives, police said.

At the scene, police found a silver Subaru sedan, registered in Connecticut to Bohning, parked on the side of the house. The rear doors of the sedan had been left open, police said.

Bohning’s whereabouts were not known as of Sunday, police said, and his family in Connecticut told local police that they have not heard from him in several days. Nashville police said Bohning may be in the couple’s vehicle, a gray 2010 Toyota Camry with Tennessee license plate number NP5-937.

The car surfaced Monday morning in Gaines County, Texas, when someone called police to say it looked out of place. The responding deputy encountered Bohning and was stabbed, Metro Nashville police said, and Bohning was shot.

Nashville police tweeted the latest developments about Bohning late Monday morning.

Christine Dempsey can be reached at cdempsey@courant.com.

Emily Brindley can be reached at ebrindley@courant.com.