A firearm was shot into the air and two men end up dead, Wichita police say

The Wichita Police Department is investigating the city’s 34th and 35th homicide of 2018 after three men were shooting a firearm into the air early Saturday morning, Officer Charley Davidson said Monday.

At about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, officers responded to a shooting call at 21st and Market, Davidson said.

When officers arrived, they found a 24-year-old man with a gunshot wound in his abdomen. He was taken to a hospital and later died, according to police.

Officers also found a 36-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his leg in the backyard of an area home, Davidson said. That man was also taken to the hospital where he later died.

Through an investigation, officers learned the 24-year-old man and two others had been shooting a firearm into the air while in an alley west of 21st and Market, Davidson said.

There were several other people in the backyard where the 36-year-old man was injured, police said. There was then a disturbance between the people in the backyard and the men who were in the alley.

Shots were fired by an unknown person, and the 24-year-old was struck and killed, police said. He was identified as Manuel Otano-Hernandez, of Wichita.

Davidson told The Eagle police are still investigating how and when the 36-year-old man was shot. Police identified him as Jesse Villalobos, of Wichita.

The investigation is ongoing. If you have any information, contact Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111 or police at 316-268-4407.

This story was originally published August 20, 2018 at 11:34 AM.