Man uses firework to ‘explode an item’ — gets struck in his chest, Wichita police say

A 43-year-old man who tried to use a firework to “explode an item” ended up in the hospital — and then jail — after someone reported a possible explosion, Officer Charley Davidson said during Monday’s news briefing.

Police first responded to the 300 block of South Glenn at about 4:30 p.m. on Sunday after a caller asked officers to check on an explosion, Davidson said.

Several minutes later, police were called to an “injury associated with an explosion” call in the 300 block of South Vine, he said. That’s just 400 feet away from the original call, near Maple.

When police arrived at the home, they talked to 43-year-old Travis Redd, of Wichita.

Investigators learned that Redd “had used a firework in a manner it was not designed for to explode an item on the ground behind his residence,” Davidson said.

The firework detonated, Davidson said, and fragments hit Redd in the chest, injuring him.

He was treated for non-life-threatening injuries at the hospital before he was booked into jail on suspicion of criminal use of explosives, Davidson said.

This story was originally published September 24, 2018 at 11:43 AM.