Shawnee County Jury Finds Tony Williams Guilty on All Counts in 2023 Topeka Shootings
A Shawnee County jury has convicted 57-year-old Tony Williams of Topeka on all five charges related to a series of shootings in 2023 that left multiple people injured.
The verdict closes a major chapter in a legal proceeding that stretched across three years due to extended evaluations of the defendant’s mental competency. Williams now faces a return to court on November 5 for a scheduling conference.
The charges decided by the jury encompass a spectrum of violent offenses stemming from the June 2023 violence. The counts include attempted murder in the first degree with intentional and premeditated actions, attempted murder in the second degree, aggravated assault using a deadly weapon, and two counts of aggravated battery for knowingly causing great bodily harm or disfigurement.
The investigation began in the early morning hours of June 23, 2023. Police records show that the shootings unfolded between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. across two distinct locations in Topeka: the 1800 block of Gage Boulevard and the area surrounding the 1000 block of Southwest Plass Avenue. The gunfire resulted in three people sustaining injuries before law enforcement officers apprehended Williams in the days following the incidents.
The path to the courtroom proved unusually protracted. Prosecutors filed formal charges shortly after the shootings occurred in the summer of 2023, but the case stalled in October 2023 when a court evaluation found Williams not competent to stand trial. The legal proceedings remained paused for roughly two years until the fall of 2025, when subsequent medical and legal evaluations declared him competent. Following that determination, Williams entered formal pleas of not guilty in December 2025, setting the stage for the trial that culminated in this week’s guilty verdicts.
