Wichita teen arrested in road rage incident that left two injured, records show

An 18-year-old Wichita man has been arrested in the road rage incident that left two teens shot and critically injured Friday in south Wichita, according to arrest records released Tuesday morning.

Xavier Becker was arrested Monday at his home on suspicion of two counts of aggravated battery with a weapon, one count of criminal discharge of a firearm and one count of criminal use of a weapon.

Becker was arrested in connection to a shooting that happened at around 11:40 p.m. Friday on I-235 near Meridian.

The two teens, a 17-year-old boy shot in the upper torso and a 19-year-old man shot in the leg, were found in a parked car in the 700 block of West Maywood, which is near West 55th Street South. They were taken to the hospital in critical but stable condition, police spokesperson Kristopher Gupilan said.

Police were looking for a black sedan connected to the shooting.

“With the assistance of social media posts, officers and detectives were able to identify Becker as the shooter and responded quickly to apprehend him,” Gupilan said in a Tuesday news release.

In a previous news release, Gupilan said a witness saw an “altercation between the victims and a black sedan.” The witness saw the vehicles following each other when multiple shots were fired from the black sedan, Gupilan said.

This story was originally published July 18, 2023 at 9:07 AM.