Augusta man fatally shot during shoving match over ounce of missing marijuana
A 20-year-old man charged in a drug-related killing in November was upset that morning because he thought the victim stole an ounce of his marijuana.
Carver Khalid Soliman called 911 after he allegedly gunned down 24-year-old John A. Buess-Wheeler early on Nov. 30 and told a dispatcher that “some people came to his apartment to buy weed, they rushed him and he shot them,” an arrest affidavit released last week by Sedgwick County District says.
When police showed up at Soliman’s apartment at 1212 S. Main in Wichita, Soliman told an officer: “I’m the one who shot him.”
In a subsequent police interview, Soliman told a Wichita detective he’d spent the early morning hours listening to music, drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana with two women and two men they’d invited over — one of whom was Buess-Wheeler. Soliman said he sold $20 worth of pot to Buess-Wheeler but that the transaction wasn’t planned. Soliman asked the men to leave when he was ready to go to bed.
After they were gone, Soliman told police he noticed “some of his marijuana was gone.”
He asked one of the women to contact Buess-Wheeler and his companion and ask them to come back. When they returned, Soliman accused Buess-Wheeler of stealing his marijuana, and Buess-Wheeler accused Soliman of stealing some 9 mm bullets from his jacket, the affidavit says.
Soliman told police the argument escalated into a shoving match that he started.
At one point when Buess-Wheeler moved to push Soliman again, Soliman “picked up his .45 handgun … took it off safety, pointed the gun towards John and shot two times.” Buess-Wheeler collapsed near the doorway as he ran away.
He died at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis Hospital at 6:09 a.m. from a gunshot wound to his chest.
The man who went to Soliman’s apartment with Buess-Wheeler told police in an interview that they didn’t take the weed. He said when they returned to the apartment, Soliman grabbed the gun and told them “nobody was leaving until he received the money for the missing marijuana or the marijuana back.”
The man told police Soliman pointed the handgun at Buess-Wheeler, who “rushed” toward him “attempting to tackle him.” Soliman responded by shooting Buess-Wheeler in the chest and the other man in the right lower arm, the affidavit says he told police.
Soliman is charged with second-degree intentional murder, aggravated battery and possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute it. He was released from jail earlier this month after posting $40,000 bond, court records show. His next court date is March 27.
This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 4:04 PM.
