Shooting at northwest Dillons may have been during a drug deal, Wichita police say

Wichita police have identified a person of interest in Thursday’s northwest Wichita shooting in a Dillons parking lot that left two men critically injured, Wichita police spokesman Trevor Macy said Friday.

The two men shot, ages 18 and 21, remain hospitalized in critical condition. They are expected to survive.

Police think the shooting occurred during a drug deal.

Wichita firefighters were at the Dillons and were approached by the 18-year-old man who had been shot, police said. He then pointed firefighters to another victim — a 21-year-old man who had been shot multiple times. He was found between two vehicles in the parking lot.

Firefighters provided medical help to the two.

Police say the incident started just after 2 p.m. after the driver of one of the vehicles involved in the shooting backed into a parking space on the east side of the parking lot.

“A male exited the vehicle, removed something from the trunk, then re-entered the car,” Macy said in a news release. “Later, the other vehicle backed into a stall next to the first one. Shortly after that, gunfire was exchanged between the two vehicles.”

Both vehicles appear to have bullet holes, Macy said. Police at the scene cordoned off an area that had a car with what appeared to be two bullet holes in the driver’s side window and a shoe on top of the roof.

After the shooting, “three males exited the vehicles and fled into the neighborhood to the east,” Macy said.

The incident caused a scare as police fanned out into the neighborhood. There was also a false report of an active shooter that caused a scare at Maize school district, according to Wichita police Capt. Jason Cooley.

The 18-year-old was one of the three people who ran, but he returned to the parking lot and approached firefighters for help.

“At this time, a person of interest has been identified,” Macy said.

This story was originally published February 11, 2022 at 3:10 PM.