CHEROKEE COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a suspect in connection with allegedly pointing a laser at a Kansas Highway Patrol aircraft.
The Kansas Highway Air Support Unit was recently assisting a local law enforcement agency in Cherokee County when the flight crew was targeted by an individual, later identified as 45-year-old Jason Elmer Zwahlen, aiming a green laser at the aircraft.
The flight crew located Zwahlen and directed KHP ground units to the area. Zwahlen then fired several shots at the aircraft before leaving the scene in a vehicle. KHP ground units stopped the vehicle and took Zwahlen into custody.
Just before 11p.m. Sept. 22, Cherokee County Sheriff’s deputies booked Zwahlen into the Cherokee County Detention Center in Columbus on requested charges of possession of meth, possession of drug paraphernalia and aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer. The Cherokee County Sheriff's office confirmed the incident occurred in their county and not Labette County as originally reported.