Wichita man, 23, killed, wounded teen arrested after ‘targeted incident,’ police say

An 18-year-old Wichita man who showed up at a hospital with a gunshot wound has been arrested in a Tuesday night killing that police say was a “targeted incident.”

The man was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and booked into the Sedgwick County Jail after the early evening shooting in the 1200 block of South Bleckley, which is close to Lincoln and Oliver.

Arriving officers found 23-year-old Manuel Roach of Wichita unresponsive. He was taken to the a hospital, where he later died, officials said. He was shot in the stomach, according to Sedgwick County Emergency Communications scanner traffic.

“Preliminary investigation indicates that a disturbance occurred involving the victim and three unidentified males dressed in all black,” Wichita police spokesperson Brad Wright said in a news release. “Following the incident, the suspects departed the scene in a white SUV before law enforcement arrival. The exact circumstances that led up to the shooting are still under investigation. We do believe this was a targeted incident between individuals known to each other.”

Scanner traffic indicated a 911 caller reported hearing “about 10 to 20 shots.”

“We have several callers on this,” an official said over the scanner, adding that a caller reported a young male driving northbound in an SUV thought be involved in the shooting. “Passenger to that vehicle had a shotgun.”

The man who showed up to the hospital was hit in his “lower extremity,” Wright said.

This is the city’s first homicide of the year, according to reports from police. There were seven at this time last year.

This story was originally published February 12, 2025 at 12:23 PM.