51-year-old Wichita man killed in drive-by shooting

A man was fatally shot in the 1400 block of East Gidley, near 31st South and Hydraulic, at about 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday, authorities have said.

By 8:30 a.m., all but one officer had left the street. Groups of school children walked past the scene on their way to nearby Anderson Elementary School.

About five houses down, Alfred Sebastian recalled what he heard.

“I was in (my house) on the phone, and I heard four shots,” he said.

He turned down his music, checked around his home, took a peek out of his window and immediately saw Wichita police officers.

“They came very quick,” he said.

Wichita police Lt. Todd Ojile said the victim, a 51-year-old Wichita man, went to the house to visit its residents. He doesn’t live on the street.

A vehicle pulled up while the man was outside. Words were exchanged and shots were fired from the vehicle, Ojile said.

The man was hit once. When police arrived, they found him lying in the street. He was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead just before 2:30 a.m., Ojile said.

No one else was outside at the time of the shooting and police don’t have a description of the vehicle.

Ojile said the shooting was not random and isn’t drug or gang related.

Sebastian said he doesn’t know much about that particular neighbor.

“I keep to myself,” he said.

But he thinks a man and woman had lived there at one time, and he’s seen people come and go more recently. He’s definitely seen Wichita police get called to the house on numerous occasions. For what, he’s not sure.

“The neighborhood is quiet, that was really the only house causing problems,” he said.

This is the 28th homicide in Wichita this year and the second this week.

This story was originally published November 15, 2017 at 6:26 AM with the headline "51-year-old Wichita man killed in drive-by shooting."