Elderly man threatened with box knife kills 21-year-old, Wichita police say

A 70-year-old man fatally shot a 21-year-old man who threatened him with a box knife Monday at a downtown Wichita apartment, according to Wichita police spokesman Charley Davidson.

Police responded to the shooting at around 5:10 p.m. Monday at an apartment in the 700 block of North Broadway, which is near Pine, and found Gabriel Njoroge shot. He died at the scene.

The 70-year-old man was there when police arrived as well.

“The investigation revealed a disturbance occurred between the 70-year-old male and Njoroge outside of the apartments,” Davidson said in a news release. “During the disturbance, Njoroge threatened the male and came towards him armed with a box knife. Being in fear for his safety, the 70-year-old shot Njoroge.”

Police did not answer additional questions about the case.

This is the city’s 13th homicide this year. There were 13 by this time last year and nine by this time in 2020, which ended up being a record year of homicides.

This story was originally published March 8, 2022 at 9:11 AM.