Affidavit offers details about shooting outside Wichita elementary school
A shooting outside a south Wichita elementary school last month while class was in session happened after a woman told the father of her children that she wanted to leave him.
The man was already upset over a purported cancer diagnosis and a recent job loss, plus he thought the woman was cheating, according to a probable cause affidavit released Friday. After dropping off their two children at Cessna Elementary School around 9 a.m. on Sept. 23, the woman reportedly told him that “she was leaving him and never coming back.”
Vincent L. Solomon Jr., 46, was charged with attempted first-degree premeditated murder and aggravated kidnapping for shooting the woman, whom authorities have previously described as his wife. He’s also charged with aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer for allegedly pointing a gun at a Sedgwick County Sheriff’s deputy who ultimately halted the attack, as well as interference with law enforcement for resisting arrest.
His public defender didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon.
Authorities have previously said the shooting stemmed from a domestic violence incident between the couple. The shooting left the school on lockdown and caused panic among parents, many of whom picked up their kids in the middle of the day.
According to the affidavit, the couple had gotten a ride to Cessna Elementary School, 2101 W. 45th St. South, from a 72-year-old Lyft driver who lived near them and sometimes drove them places as a favor. The driver told police Solomon had talked about recently losing his job and since then he had been transporting the couple and their two children to the school for free “to help them out.”
The Lyft driver said the day of the shooting, there were no issues between the couple on the drive to the school. The woman got out of the car and walked the children to the building while Solomon stayed back to talk about the cancer diagnosis. He also told the Lyft driver he thought the woman “had been ‘going out’ on him,” the affidavit says. Solomon was in the front passenger seat at the time.
The woman got into the rear passenger seat when she returned to the car after dropping off the children. When the Lyft driver started to drive off, Solomon asked him to pull over so he could move to the back seat.
When the car stopped, Solomon and the woman both got out of the car. The woman started to walk off. Solomon called after her and followed her, telling her she couldn’t leave and “to get back into the vehicle,” the affidavit says.
When she refused, Solomon reportedly blocked her path, held her by the shoulders and grabbed the collar of her jacket, getting more forceful each time he stopped her, according to the affidavit.
The Lyft driver and a resident who lives in the area both tried unsuccessfully to intervene.
The woman eventually grabbed Solomon’s hands to make him let go of her jacket. That’s when the affidavit says he pulled a small semi-automatic handgun from his sweatshirt pocket, grabbed the collar of the woman’s jacket and pointed the gun at her head.
He then let go and repeatedly shot her in the chest at “point blank” range when she started to turn away, according to the affidavit.
The Lyft driver told police that before the shooting, he had warned Solomon that preventing the woman from walking off would cause trouble, but Solomon told him he “couldn’t leave without (her),” the affidavit says.
Solomon told the resident who tried to intervene to mind his own business and that “he didn’t care if he lived or died and that he was going to die anyway,” the affidavit says the resident reported.
The woman suffered multiple gunshot wounds, including one to her face and two to her chest, and had to undergo surgery to treat the injuries. Law enforcement has said she is expected to survive.
Authorities have said when the woman ran toward the school for help after the shooting, Solomon followed, held her at gunpoint, used her as a shield when law enforcement arrived, and pointed his gun at the sheriff’s deputy. The deputy responded by firing two gunshots at Solomon’s leg to subdue him. He didn’t let go of his firearm until a Wichita police officer yanked it away during a scuffle, the affidavit says.
Law enforcement officials have credited a school staff member who locked the front doors of the school with preventing Solomon from getting into the building. He was taken to a Wichita hospital to get treatment for his wounded leg before being booked into the Sedgwick County Jail.
He remained in custody at the jail on Friday. His bond amount is $750,000, according to an online roster of inmates. His next court date is Oct. 7.
