Wichita police officer who was run over is out of surgery

UPDATE, 4:25 P.M.: Deputy Chief Jose Salcido said at 4 p.m. that the officer run over by a man fleeing in a stolen vehicle is a 25-year veteran of the Wichita Police Department.

The officer “just came out of surgery,” Salcido told reporters at City Hall.

“At this time the Wichita Police Department is not releasing the name of the injured officer,” he said.

Salcido said a second police officer fired his duty weapon toward the suspect as he fled. The man was captured at a business in the 600 block of East Pawnee after running inside. He was arrested there.

Sgt. Nikki Woodrow tweeted at 4:25 p.m. that the officer is in critical but stable condition.

UPDATE, 3:43 P.M.: Coda Gibbs, another in the neighborhood on South Topeka, said, “I just heard the big boom.”

About 10 seconds after hearing the noise, Gibbs said he came out to his front porch to see what was happening. He said he saw a woman outside a PT Cruiser at a stop sign at the corner screaming, “Oh my God!”

Gibbs said he saw officers gathered around the injured officer in the street.

“I heard them tell him, ‘Just hang in there, hang in there,’ ” Gibbs said.

He said when emergency medical workers arrived, they began cutting off the officer’s clothes before taking him to the hospital.

Police Sgt. Nikki Woodrow tweeted at about 3:20 p.m. that the officer was in surgery.

UPDATE, 2:47 P.M.: Two residents of the neighborhood where the incident started Tuesday afternoon said they heard a pop, and then the sound of engines revving.

W.A. Stofer said he and his son, William Stofer, walked out of their house on South Topeka and “saw the blur of the chase.”

He said two Wichita police vehicles were chasing what appeared to be a truck or SUV.

His son said, “You could smell the gunsmoke in the air.”

He said he could see the injured male officer lying in the street. A female officer with him was waving other officers down.

Another neighbor, Neal Calvin, said he saw about six officers “bunched over” the injured officer before the officer was taken away by an ambulance.

UPDATE, 2:31 P.M.: The intersection of Kinkaid and Topeka is encircled by yellow crime-scene tape. Standing in the middle of that taped-off area is Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett. He’s walking with one of the investigators. There are a dozen or so police officers gathered around in small groups.

In the middle of the intersection are four orange traffic cones, spaced out, in an L shape. On the north side of the intersection, there are two black objects in the street and in the bike lane. This is a residential neighborhood in the 2100 block of South Topeka.

UPDATE, 2:20 P.M.: One suspect is in custody and an officer is in critical condition, Sgt. Nikki Woodrow said in a preliminary briefing.

Woodrow said officers were monitoring a house in the 2100 block of South Topeka around 1:07 p.m. Tuesday. The house had a stolen vehicle outside and a suspect with outstanding felony warrants. The suspect left the home in the vehicle, running over the officer, who was on foot.

A second officer fired one round toward the suspect, she said, but it is currently unknown where the bullet struck. After a chase, the suspect was arrested in the 600 block of East Pawnee.

An official briefing will be held at 4 p.m.

UPDATE, 2:06 p.m.: The police officer has been taken to Via Christi Hospital St. Francis. Deputy Chief Jose Salcido said the officer’s condition was “very critical.”

UPDATE, 2:01 p.m.: Doug Briant, who works at Continental Batteries, a business behind the blue metal building, heard a siren and saw a police car with lights and sirens, which drew his attention. He looked behind the metal building and saw officers with guns drawn “and more officers coming.”

He saw three men running from the metal building and pointing back toward the building as if to direct the officers into or toward the building.

Earlier, another witness, a woman who did not want to give her name, said she was a passenger in a vehicle that was going west on Pawnee. She saw a black vehicle coming east on Pawnee coming head on toward them, with a police car behind. The black vehicle swerved to avoid their vehicle and continued east on Pawnee.

A black SUV is parked behind the blue metal building, along with several police cars.

UPDATE, 1:46 p.m.: The scene appears to be at Pawnee and Santa Fe. At least a dozen emergency vehicles are parked with lights flashing on Pawnee. Uniformed police, troopers and sheriff’s officers are also standing nearby. Possible witnesses are also standing nearby.

EMS personnel have wheeled a stretcher into a blue metal building on the south side of Pawnee.

Police have cordoned off a large empty lot behind the building with yellow crime-scene tape.

ORIGINAL STORY: A Wichita police officer has been run over, according to emergency 911 dispatches, in the area of St. Francis and Mount Vernon.

Various police and fire crews are being dispatched to the area.

Wichita police asked people on Twitter to avoid an area near Broadway and Mount Vernon:

This is a developing news situation, and we will update with details as they become available.

This story was originally published February 7, 2017 at 1:13 PM with the headline "Wichita police officer who was run over is out of surgery."