Bombing in Wichita had no injuries, but led to ATF investigation, charges

Federal authorities are investigating a bombing that happened near Kellogg and Meridian in Wichita last week.

Officials have not released detailed information on the bombing, which was first noted in court documents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and U.S. Attorney’s Office. Wichita police did not provide a case number in connection to the bombing and directed inquiries to the ATF.

Wichita police blotter information would typically include information on such a case, if the department was involved. However, WPD has not released its blotter information through its website in more than a month.

“The incident occurred in the early morning hours of June 22 in the 800 block of South Richmond Avenue,” said John Ham, the spokesperson for the Kansas City Field Division of the ATF, in an email. “There were no injuries. Our investigation is ongoing but we believe this to have been an isolated incident and as such have no reason to think that there is any risk to the public’s safety at this time.”

The bombing was reported as part of a criminal complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Wichita against Travis James Myers. There is no record of Myers being booked into the Sedgwick County jail in connection to the charge.

Federal prosecutors charged Myers with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The attached affidavit, written by an ATF agent, states the investigation into Myers was connected to “a bombing that had occurred on June 22, 2021, in Wichita, Kansas.”

The ATF obtained search warrants as part of the bomb investigation. Agents on Thursday allegedly found two Taurus 9 mm pistols Thursday at Myers’s home in the 7400 block of West Frazier, near Central and Ridge. The loaded guns were allegedly under a pillow in the master bedroom.

Documents related to the federal search warrants remain sealed.

Myers is prohibited from possessing a gun because of a 2016 conviction in federal court for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Kansas Department of Corrections records show prior drug possession and sale offenses in McPherson County. Myers is 37 years old, according to KDOC.

The 2016 federal crime involved a traffic stop by a McPherson County Sheriff’s Deputy, during which Myers had an HS Produkt pistol. His plea deal dismissed five additional charges related to gun crimes and methamphetamine distribution. He was sentenced to five years of probation, but served only 30 months, or about half the sentence, before it was terminated early.

This story was originally published June 28, 2021 at 4:09 PM.