Vehicle in police chase connected to Menards shooting, police confirm

Wichita police are trying to determine if a woman who allegedly led officers on a high-speed chase from south Wichita to Derby on Tuesday afternoon is the same woman they’re looking for in connection with a shooting at a Menards on Monday.

Police released a photo of the car connected to the Menards shooting early Tuesday morning. Just before noon, a resident called Wichita City Hall to report seeing the vehicle in the 900 block of West 34th Street South, Officer Charley Davidson said.

Officers then found the driver in the 2000 block of South Broadway. When she refused to stop, a chase ensued. Stop sticks, which are used to puncture tires, were used multiple times but were never successful, Davidson said.

When the driver was near 63rd South and Rock Road, a trooper with the Kansas Highway Patrol tried to tap her vehicle to stop it, but the car spun out and she was able to keep driving, Davidson said.

The chase ended on Meadowlark in Derby, near K-15, after the vehicle flipped several times. The woman was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

Police haven’t yet confirmed if she’s the woman who was involved in a shooting at the Menards at at 37th North and Maize a day earlier. They have confirmed the car is the same.

The man who is accused of shooting a Menards loss prevention officer at around 4:30 p.m. Monday has not been found, Davidson said. The loss prevention officer was shot in the stomach after trying to stop two shoplifters, police have said.

The injured Menards employee has been released from the hospital, Davidson said.

This story was originally published May 1, 2018 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Vehicle in police chase connected to Menards shooting, police confirm."