Suspect in Cheney Reservoir child shooting has history of abuse, ‘gun activity’: court records
Kamden Campos, the 21-year-old suspect arrested Monday in a Cheney Reservoir toddler shooting, had a history of violence, mental and verbal abuse, and a past that included “gun and drug activity,” Sedgwick County District Court records show.
Authorities say Campos kidnapped a mother and two children from an address in Wichita then drove them out to Cheney Reservoir, where he fired shots into a car the family fled in, critically injuring a toddler and spurring a manhunt that drew several law enforcement agencies to Reno County on Monday afternoon.
Authorities said late Monday that the toddler had undergone surgery and was expected to survive its injuries. Reports of additional injuries to the mother and other child could not be confirmed as of press time.
Authorities were still searching for the gun used in the shooting, Reno County Sheriff Darrian Campbell said. At the scene, law enforcement appeared to be searching an area near the Cheney Wildlife Area for the weapon. Campbell said officers were using K-9 units and hoped to find the gun before too much traffic disturbed the area.
Campbell said Campos, of Wichita, shot into the rear of the car after he and the mother got into an argument and she tried to escape. The bullet traveled through the trunk and back seat before hit the child, he said. The toddler, 2, was sitting in a car seat and received a wound to the abdomen.
The mother didn’t notice the wound until after she had driven away, headed back into Sedgwick County, and called 911 Campbell said.
The injured child was taken to Wesley Medical Center, which was providing “care and treatment” including surgery on Monday afternoon, Campbell said.
The child was in critical condition at the time they were taken to the hospital, according to emergency scanner traffic.
But Campbell did say the mother was with the child and that detectives were at the hospital gathering information about what exactly occurred. He said the mother and the other child were unharmed, except for possible minor injuries and abrasions the mother might have received in her scuffle with Campos.
“We believe that he (Campos) was trying to harm her (the mother),” Campbell said. He did not know the relationship between them but said Campos and the mother know one another and that he thinks the day’s events involve domestic violence.
Campbell said the fight and shooting happened along the shoreline of the lake, likely around noon, in the area of Sun City and Yoder Road. He said the family was abducted some time earlier from their home at 24th and Jeanette in Wichita and were taken to the lake for “unknown reasons” and that Campos was “being hostile” toward them.
An Eagle reporter who visited the 2400 block of Jeanette on Monday where authorities said the abduction happened found neighbors unwilling to give their names because of worries about their safety. Several said they had very little or no info on the possible victims.
Reno County dispatchers received an emergency call from the mother at 12:06 p.m., Campbell said. Sedgwick County was alerted at 12:17 p.m., a local dispatch supervisor told The Eagle. Law enforcement found the family in a car on the side of the road near Andale before they were taken to the hospital by emergency personnel, according to reports.
Campos fled after the shooting, sparking a search involving law enforcement officers from several agencies in Reno and Sedgwick counties, aircraft and drones, Campbell said. He was captured shortly before 2 p.m. around Silver Lake and Obee Road, after those manning the aircraft guided officers on the ground to Campos when he emerged briefly from a wooded area, Campbell said.
Campos was arrested and will be booked into the Reno County Jail, he said.
A search of Sedgwick County District Court records show the mother of a 15-year-old girl sought and was granted an order of protection from abuse against Campos in 2015, when he was 16. The mother said she walked in on the teens having sex, and she wanted to protect her daughter from Campos.
“I am afraid for my daughter’s safety due to mental and verbal abuse from Kamden as well as his gun and drug activity,” the mother wrote.
In 2018, Campos was arrested for multiple counts of felony aggravated battery and marijuana possession. Prosecutors alleged he “knowingly cause(d) great bodily harm or disfigurement of another person,” identified in court documents by the initials “DCM.”
Campos pleaded down to misdemeanor charges and was sentenced to 18 months probation. He was released from probation in December.
Campbell said Campos’ capture was the result of “an excellent response” by law enforcement, who set up a perimeter in the area where he was thought to be hiding out. “I can’t say thank you enough to agencies that showed up,” he said.
Contributing: Chance Swaim and Matthew Kelly of The Wichita Eagle
This story was originally published July 19, 2021 at 2:11 PM.
