Sheriff’s office: Shots fired at Maize Airport not criminal; one arrested on warrant

Update 4 p.m.:

Detectives have determined that the shots fired at the Maize Airport, which led to reports of an active shooter, were “not reckless or unauthorized and did not support the elements of a crime,” Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Benjamin Blick said in a news release.

Yancy Hermosillo, 35, was arrested near where the alleged shooting occurred in connection to a federal warrant for drug and weapons violations, Blick said.

A 49-year-old man also found near the shooting was questioned and released, so was a 27-year-old man stopped in a vehicle that reportedly left the scene of the shooting, he said. The vehicle was stopped in southeast Wichita.

“During a search of the area for casualties, spent shell casings and firearms were observed, but no victims or evidence of injury was found,” Blick said.

Original, 12:50 p.m.:

A 35-year-old man with at least one federal warrant is in custody, a firearm was found and others are being questioned after a report of an active shooter at Maize Airport on Friday morning, according to the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office.

“We’re trying to determine exactly what occurred but as far as this being what people would describe as an active shooter situation, it was not,” sheriff’s Lt. Benjamin Blick said during a news briefing near the airport around 10:40 a.m. “It was obviously put out this way. To the best of our knowledge no one was injured at this time, but we are still looking into it.”

The owner of the airport, on 45th Street between Ridge and Tyler, called police and reported a vehicle leaving the scene at around 9:20 a.m.

The 35-year-old and a 49-year-old man, who is being questioned, were both found near a storage unit on the airport property, Blick said.

“They were associated with the unit that we are looking at at the moment,” he said.

A firearm was recovered at the airport as well.

The vehicle reported leaving the airport was stopped by officers in Wichita. Officers are questioning those occupants as well.

“At this time we only can say that there was a firearm that was shot out here,” he said.

Blick said the Sheriff’s Office would likely release additional information later today.

There are two commercial buildings on the private property, according to the Sedgwick County Appraiser’s Office. Overgrown grass and several vehicles parked in lines like a junkyard can be seen behind the tattered fence. The airport also has an apparent grass runaway.

This story was originally published July 9, 2021 at 11:33 AM.