Officials identify Wichita man killed in shootout with police at Spirit

A 28-year-old Wichita man live streamed his life struggles on social media before engaging in a fatal shootout with Wichita police and Sedgwick County deputies late Thursday at Spirit AeroSystems, according to officials and his social media.

Two police vehicles were hit by gunfire during the shootout in which Devario Ceon Edwards was hit multiple times, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said in a news release sent out just before 4 p.m. Friday.

“Edwards fired over 20 rounds at police,” KBI spokesperson Natalie Turner said in a news release. “A total of eight law enforcement officers fired over 100 rounds.”

The KBI released a video that shows Edwards exit a car, put his hands up and then start shooting at and hitting a Wichita police vehicle. The video then ends.

In the 26 hours before his death, Edwards had been arrested and bonded out of jail.

Police reports show he was arrested for a domestic violence incident reported at 10:08 p.m. Wednesday in which a victim was hit and property was stolen. The address on the police report gives the block where Edwards lived. He bonded out of jail for that incident on Thursday.

Two other police reports were connected to that case: One, in the same block, at 8:35 a.m. Thursday said a man was “placed in fear for his life” when a suspect “tried to hit him with a metal pipe.” Another made at the same time with no address said a victim reported a suspect “sending out nude photos of her on social media to friends and family.”

Officers were called again around 9:07 p.m. Thursday after Edwards reportedly kicked in a door and tried to shoot a male resident in the 5600 block of East Mainsgate, according to Sedgwick County Emergency Communications scanner traffic and Turner.

“Preliminary information indicates that after Edwards attempted to shoot the resident, he fled the scene and began a Facebook livestream,” Turner said. “In the video, he is armed with a rifle and indicated he was headed to Spirit (AeroSystems).”

In the live stream, he talks about being a nice guy but constantly being kicked down. He brings up custody issues, relationship problems and losing his job at Spirit.

Spirit did not answer specific questions. A spokesperson said the company could not release confidential information about employees.

Edwards also talked about going out with a “bang.”

Officers spotted the vehicle associated with the East Mainsgate incident and put out a call for other officers to respond at 11 p.m. in the 3900 block of South Oliver, according to a Sedgwick County Emergency Communications supervisor.

A rifle can be heard being cocked just before that as Edwards drives around the Spirit complex in south Wichita.

He ran a red light on MacArthur and turned south onto K-15 before he was reported going into a parking lot at Spirit.

“This is the end, baby. This is it. This is it, baby, because somebody doesn’t want to love you right,” he says.

Then a vehicle door can be heard opening and gunshots go off.

Dozens of shots can be heard for about 13 seconds, before stopping for 11 seconds, and then dozens more go off for about another 14 seconds.

This story was originally published January 24, 2025 at 3:52 PM.