FBI: Glasses found with jail search warrant help ID shooter at Wichita American Legion

Federal investigators used a search warrant to recover a pair of glasses they say help identify the alleged shooter who fired a bullet into the American Legion building in north Wichita earlier this year.

Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday executed a search warrant at Brian Mitchell’s cell in the Butler County jail to get the white glasses.

“Mitchell wore the white glasses the night of the shooting and was later arrested with the white glasses,” an FBI agent from Wichita wrote in court documents. “The white glasses assist in confirming the identity of Mitchell during the time surrounding the shooting at the American Legion.”

Records show the shooting was reported to Wichita police at around 9:04 p.m. Jan. 2 at 1335 N. Hydraulic. Officers determined there were no injuries, but there was property damage. Police identified Mitchell as a suspect and arrested him that same night.

In an affidavit supporting the search warrant, the FBI agent wrote that photos from a memorial service at the American Legion earlier that day showed Mitchell was in attendance. Surveillance video from the shooting that night showed the shooter appeared to be dressed in the same clothing as Mitchell had worn earlier.

When Mitchell was arrested, he appeared to be wearing the same clothing — including a pair of white glasses that was in his hoodie pocket.

The FBI agent said the surveillance video showed Mitchell pointed a handgun at another patron of the American Legion. The patron went outside, and he was pursued by Mitchell and other people. Multiple gunshots were then fired outside, before Mitchell was seen trying to get back inside. He fired one round through the front glass door. A 9mm casing was later found in the area.

Mitchell was charged in Sedgwick County District Court with criminal discharge of a weapon at an occupied dwelling and criminal possession of a weapon by a felon. Those charges were dismissed after he was indicted in U.S. District Court of possession of ammunition by a felon.

Also indicted in the case were co-defendants Jermaine Oliver and Demetrius Larraga.

At the time of the shooting, Mitchell was seven months into a three-year supervised release sentence. Last year, he pleaded guilty in federal court to possession with intent to distribute MDMA. He admitted he had about 14 grams of the drug, also known as ecstasy.

While the maximum sentence was up to 20 years in prison, the guideline imprisonment range was 10-16 months, and he had already spent more than 15 months in federal custody by the time of his sentencing. The judge sentenced him to time served, releasing him to 36 months of supervised release.

After being released, local prosecutors resumed with an unrelated Sedgwick County District Court case on charges of aggravated assault with a gun and theft. That case, filed in 2019, had been on hold after Mitchell failed to appear in state court while in federal custody.

Mitchell’s release was revoked after he was arrested in the Jan. 2 shooting. His probation officer said he violated the terms of his release.

On Jan. 2, he had unapproved contact with Jermaine Oliver and another man he wasn’t allowed to be in contact with — constituting two violations, the probation officer alleged. Two more violations came from allegedly being in possession of a gun or ammunition and allegedly committing a crime during the shooting.

This story was originally published March 10, 2021 at 9:16 PM.