Single shot during two-day argument prompted SWAT standoff, police say

A single shot from a gun after a two-day fight between a man and woman prompted a SWAT standoff in south Wichita on Thursday, police said.

Police were called to a shooting at a house in the 3100 block of South St. Paul, near 31st South and Meridian, at 11:14 a.m. Thursday.

A 29-year-old man and 31-year-old woman who were dating had been in a two-day argument where the man had battered the woman, Officer Paul Cruz said Friday. The woman had a large laceration to her forehead.

Their fight continued on Thursday in a bedroom, where the man pulled out a handgun and fired one shot, Cruz said. One of the three other people in the house called 911.

When officers approached the house, a person who was leaving ran back inside, Officer Charley Davidson said. The person did not have a gun.

A SWAT team was dispatched after police spoke with neighbors, who said they heard the shot fired.

Police surrounded the house and used a loudspeaker to command any people inside to come out. Five people came out on their own and were detained by police for questioning.

Officers continued to command that anyone inside come out, not knowing if there were any more people inside, Davidson said. A SWAT team then entered the house and found no one else inside.

Cruz said the 29-year-old man was arrested. Booking reports show Richard Dante Gray was arrested on suspicion of criminal possession of a firearm by a felon, domestic battery, two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of criminal threat.

The arrest report shows that Gray did not live at the house on South St. Paul.

The other people in the house at the time were a 33-year-old woman, a 35-year-old man and a 69-year-old man, Cruz said. Their relationship to the 31-year-old woman is unknown. There were no injuries reported, except the laceration to the woman’s forehead.

Jail records show a 31-year-old woman was arrested at the same address on charges from unrelated cases. They include violation of the offender registration act, six counts of probation violation and failure to appear.

This story was originally published January 26, 2018 at 12:51 PM with the headline "Single shot during two-day argument prompted SWAT standoff, police say."