Wichita cops think shooting in hospital’s child unit was negligence but still investigating
Wichita police said Thursday that three women wanted for questioning in a shooting Monday inside of a local hospital’s children’s unit have been identified.
“Right now we believe it was negligent,” agency spokesman Officer Chad Ditch said of the shooting in a Thursday morning email. “However, we are still investigating.”
Police said a gun was fired around 7:10 p.m. on Monday at Ascension Via Christi’s downtown location, 929 N. St. Francis in Wichita.
“The investigation revealed that a child was brought to the hospital by a female caretaker. While in the pediatric unit the mother arrived,” police said in a news release. “While the mother was out of the room, the caretaker and two other females (unknown adult or juvenile) remained in the room. A gunshot was heard and then the females exited the hospital.”
Police say whoever had the gun discharged a single shot inside of a secured pediatric unit. No one was hurt. Authorities on Wednesday said they wanted to talk to three women who were either involved or who may know something about what happened.
In an effort to identify them, Wichita police on Wednesday afternoon released to the public hospital security images.
By Thursday afternoon, all had been identified, Ditch said by email.
In the news release, police referred to the shooting as both a vandalism and a criminal discharge of a gun case. Earlier Thursday, Ditch said investigators were still seeking leads.
Anyone with information is asked to call 316-268-4407, Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111 or the See Something Say Something hotline at 316-519-2282.
This story was originally published November 10, 2022 at 10:25 AM.
