Police: Hatchet attack leaves man with skull fracture

Police are looking for a man in connection with a clash between brothers that sent one of them to the hospital with a fractured skull.

Officers were called to Via Christi Hospital St. Joseph in southeast Wichita at about 1 a.m. Thursday, where they were told of a 19-year-old man with “a large laceration to his skull,” Lt. James Espinoza said.

Witnesses said the victim got into an argument with his 20-year-old brother at a house in the 1300 block of South Handley. That’s southeast of Lincoln and Seneca.

The older man struck his brother in the head with the blade end of a hatchet, causing the skull fracture, Espinoza said. After the victim was evaluated at St. Joseph, he was transferred to the St. Francis campus.

The attack occurred at about 7 p.m., Espinoza said, but family members waited several hours before taking the victim to the hospital. He is in serious condition at St. Francis.

Police are still looking for the older brother in the incident, Espinoza said.

This story was originally published October 23, 2014 at 2:35 PM with the headline "Police: Hatchet attack leaves man with skull fracture."