Woman shot by officer after brandishing gun at East Kellogg hotel, police say

Wichita police shot a woman after she brandished a gun while speaking to officers Wednesday morning at an east Wichita hotel, Capt. Kevin Kochenderfer said.

“It doesn’t look like it is going to be serious,” he said, adding that she was awake and speaking with them.

The woman was shot in the neck at about 11:30 a.m. in the 7300 block of East Kellogg, according to 911 emergency communications.

The shooting was the latest incident in ongoing problems police have had with the Red Roof Plus+ hotel, Kochenderfer said, while briefing media at the scene.

On Wednesday, an officer found a stolen car in the hotel parking lot and officers approached a woman they saw take items from the vehicle, police said.

One officer was at the back of the car and another at the front with the woman when she pointed a handgun at one of the officers, Kochenderfer said. The officer’s partner fired one shot that struck the woman.

He said police had been responding to calls at the hotel often over the past few months. Police have issued nuisance letters to the business, including one Tuesday, according to a police spokesperson. The incidents involve assaults, drugs, stolen cars and underage parties, Kochenderfer said.

He said it would be up to the city law department whether to issue an injunction on the business. He said the city has had to go through a similar process with motels on south Broadway, between Kellogg and Pawnee.

“There is a lot of change that needs to take place,” he said. “We need to sit down and discuss what is going to happen or, yes, we will close it down.”

Red Roof Plus+ general manager Cindy Roth-Miner said the main problem has been at the neighboring property that’s often associated with them since it all used to be one hotel.

“I’d say 90% of the issues on this corner of the block is next door,” Roth-Miner said. “We have crazy guests like every hotel in town does and as soon as we find out they are crazy we get them out of here and a lot of times they end up next door.”

The woman shot was not a guest at the Red Roof hotel, she said.

She said the hotel did receive a nuisance letter Tuesday for an incident on Saturday where a “bunch of teenagers” came to crash a party.

“That is the first time in my 10 years here that anything that crazy has happened,” she said. “That’s the only nuisance letter we’ve ever received.”

She said the hotel has a high weekly rate, doesn’t take cash and requires deposits, which usually discourages the “undesirables.”

This story was originally published March 31, 2021 at 12:00 PM.