Police stopped gunman without firing a shot three days after swatting call

Wichita police stopped a gunman at a gas station without firing a shot three days after the fatal swatting shooting that killed Andrew Finch, 28.

Police shared the case nearly a month later.

“In an effort to share the amount of violence our officers face on a daily basis we want to tell the community stories such as this,” Officer Charley Davidson said Wednesday. “In this case a gun was pointed at police officers as they approached an active shooter situation.”

A 43-year-old man and his 47-year-old girlfriend tried to rob a QuikTrip in the 1500 block of South Seneca at around 10 p.m. on Dec. 31, Davidson said. When the QuikTrip clerks were uncooperative, the man ran outside and started shooting a gun.

Davidson did not explain how the QuikTrip clerks were uncooperative during the attempted robbery.

The man then ran to a neighboring Popeye’s restaurant, where he fired into the front windows, Davidson said. There were four employees inside. The man did not go inside the restaurant.

The man and woman then went back to the QuikTrip parking lot, where the man shot at a passing vehicle with a man and boy inside. He also pointed the gun at another passing car with a man and woman inside.

Police found the man near Harry and Seneca, and he pointed the gun at officers. The officers saw people behind the man, so they moved behind cover and ordered the man to drop the gun, Davidson said. The man dropped the gun and was arrested.

Davidson said it was speculative to ask what police would have done if they did not see people behind the man with the gun.

Davidson identified the man as Jose Deleon of Haysville, and said he was booked on suspicion of attempted robbery, eight counts of aggravated assault, discharge of a firearm and felon in possession of a handgun.

The woman, identified by police as Sheila Davis of Wichita, was arrested on suspicion of attempted robbery. The case has been presented to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.

There were no injuries reported.

This case happened on New Year’s Eve — three days after police shot and killed an unarmed man on his front porch after a fake 911 call and one day after a bullet fragment hit a girl in the face after an officer tried to shoot a dog in a home.

This story was originally published January 24, 2018 at 3:46 PM with the headline "Police stopped gunman without firing a shot three days after swatting call."