Police: Shooting near Exploration Place likely self-inflicted

Wichita police say a shooting Friday afternoon in the parking lot of Exploration Place was likely self-inflicted.

When officers arrived in the northwest part of the lot shortly after 4 p.m., they found a 31-year-old man lying on the ground next to a parked car, suffering from a gunshot wound, police Lt. Heather Bachman said. He was taken by ambulance in critical condition to Via Christi Hospital St. Francis, where he was undergoing surgery, she said.

His condition was unknown Friday evening.

Bachman said that after interviewing witnesses, police had no reason to think the shooting was not self-inflicted. She said some of the people who heard the gunfire were standing on the footbridge that crosses the Arkansas River and connects the parking lot to the Keeper of the Plains statute. Others were at the statute, she said.

This story was originally published December 12, 2014 at 8:03 PM with the headline "Police: Shooting near Exploration Place likely self-inflicted."