Wichita police arrest man, find guns after SWAT standoffs at Riverside home

Wichita police have arrested a man after a pair of SWAT standoffs at a Riverside home.

Police arrested Frank Mason Manning, 52, of Wichita, Officer Charley Davidson said in a news release late Wednesday. The arrest came after SWAT standoffs Tuesday night and Wednesday evening at a home in the 1100 block of North Amidon.

The second standoff on Wednesday involved serving a search warrant at the home. Officers found several long guns, including rifles and shotguns, police said.

Manning was found at a home in the 900 block of South Pinecrest and arrested on suspicion of criminal use of a weapon, harassment and violation of a protection from abuse order, police said.

Davidson previously described the Tuesday standoff case as a “negotiations incident” in a media briefing Wednesday morning.

Police went to the area at around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday stemming from an incident that happened at around 11 a.m. Officers were called that morning to a disturbance at a home, where a 52-year-old man was “experiencing a mental health crisis in a disturbance with his elderly parents,” Davidson said.

Officers contacted the man and observed he was armed with a handgun. He lives at the house, Davidson said.

Police incident reports show case filings for resist or obstruct arrest and violation of a district court order. The summary states that a 90-year-old man reported his son had violated a protection from abuse order and barricaded himself in the basement.

“Officers investigated and determined that no one was threatened, no one was in danger and a felony crime had not been committed,” Davidson said. “Officers then cleared that scene.”

But they were called back around 5:15 p.m. The man was home alone and “again experiencing a mental health crisis and threatening property damage to the home,” Davidson said. Officers responded, and “due to the previous situation, a WPD negotiation team and WPD SWAT team were activated to assist.”

Over the next several hours, police tried to get the man leave his house, but he refused, Davidson said.

“In consultation with a lead prosecutor, it was determined the behavior did not meet the threshold of a felony crime. Officers cleared the scene and we will be following up with the family and further mental health resources for the male.

“This is an example of the difficult situations that officers face each and every day, especially when addressing the ever-growing issues regarding mental health.”

Property records and Sedgwick County District Court documents show the owner of the home has previously filed to evict Manning from the basement of the house. The petition alleged Manning had “failed to adhere to rules of house, comply with curfews, become gainfully employed and become self-sufficient.”

The homeowner won the case in June 2018, but ultimately decided not to evict Manning.

Court records show Manning was charged with possessing meth in 2016, but Sedgwick County prosecutors later asked the court to dismiss the case.

This story was originally published August 28, 2019 at 7:46 PM.