Wichita man suspected of shooting at police during protest charged with 22 felonies

A Wichita man accused of shooting at police as they cleared a protest last week has been charged with 22 felonies.

Sedgwick County District Court records show Henry Edward Parker was charged Tuesday with two counts of aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer, 19 counts of aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer and one count of criminal possession of a weapon by a felon.

His bond was set at $150,000, and the judge ordered that he be subject to gang conditions if he is released from jail. He remained in the custody of the Sedgwick County Jail Thursday evening.

The charging document was not available in public court records Tuesday afternoon.

Parker, 28, was arrested last week in connection with violence that followed a mostly peaceful protest. Police had been monitoring a protest at 21st and Arkansas on June 1, and instances of violence became more frequent as the night wore on. It was declared an unlawful assembly because of property damage and shootings before police broke up the gathering early the next morning.

About 50 to 70 people defied the order to leave.

Police Chief Gordon Ramsay has said the officers had Kevlar helmets, shields and batons. They fired tear gas, smoke rounds, flash grenades and foam bullets into the crowd. As police in riot gear marched on the assembly, someone shot at them.

The shooting was captured on video by a bystander.

“Parker fired multiple shots at responding officers, and one officer’s helmet was struck by bullet pieces that had ricocheted near the officers,” police previously said in a news release. “A second officer’s helmet is believed to have been grazed by a bullet.”

Some rioters threw cinder blocks, rocks, bottles and other objects at police. No officers were injured by the gunfire, though three were hurt by the debris thrown at them. Two needed stitches.

Police have said there are about 80 body camera videos from when officers cleared the gathering. Less than a minute of what the cameras recorded has been released.

“We didn’t know they (the SWAT team) would be targeted (with gunfire),” Ramsay told reporters after the incident. “That came as a shock to us and (was) very disheartening.”

“It is extremely rare for police to take gunfire during protests. I mean, you just don’t hear about that happening.”

Parker has previously been convicted of fleeing and eluding law enforcement, theft, criminal possession of a firearm on school property, aggravated weapons violations, felon in possession of a firearm and criminal threats, police said.

He has an ongoing criminal case in state court with unrelated charges of criminal discharge of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon by a felon.

This story was originally published June 9, 2020 at 8:13 PM.