Teens arrested, guns found after stolen SUV crashes into other vehicles in NW Wichita

Two 17-year-old boys are in custody and three guns were found after the crash of a stolen SUV in northwest Wichita, Wichita police Capt. Ronald Hunt said Thursday afternoon.

The vehicle ran a red light on Tyler at 21st and hit at least three other vehicles before coming to a stop and the teens fleeing the SUV, Hunt said, adding that no one required medical attention.

The call started at 11:52 a.m.

Kansas Highway Patrol helicopter and officers from Wichita, Maize and the KHP were searching for the vehicle in what started as a suspected kidnapping but ended being a sweep to stop the suspects from going to a school.

The 16-year-old girl “was not a victim of kidnapping but was a runaway, and the suspects had taken her and dropped her off at her residence,” Hunt said.

Police used Flock cameras and tracked the silver SUV from downtown to west Wichita.

“She had provided some information that (led) us to have additional concerns that our suspects may be headed to a school in which they were going to go after somebody,” Hunt said. “We also had information that our suspects were armed.”

He said it was a public school, but said that that was all he would say.

Wichita East High School was the only school put on lockdown in Wichita, according to a spokesperson. It was put on lockdown for about 10 minutes around 12:30 p.m. “due to an issue in the neighborhood,” a spokesperson said.

Maize police and personnel in the KHP helicopter located the stolen vehicle headed south on Tyler at 29th Street North. A Wichita officer heading north passed the vehicle and started to make a U-turn when they noticed the vehicle run a light and cause the wreck, Hunt said, adding no officers were actively in a pursuit when the crash occurred.

Emergency Communications sent out an alert, which is free and anyone can sign up to receive, at 12:53 p.m. saying to avoid 21st and Tyler.

“Please stay indoors, lock doors and windows, and avoid the area until further notice,” the alert said.

Jerry Ownbey said he was headed south on Tyler at 21st, going back home after a visit to Hobby Lobby, when the vehicle nicked his bumper trying to squeeze by and into the intersection.

The 67-year-old, now retired, drove home after, realizing things could have been much worse.

“There could have been people crossing that street … it was like lunch hour,” he said.

The airbags in the stolen vehicle went off and both boys fled, Hunt said. One was immediately apprehended after being bitten by a police K-9, he said, adding that person had a gun on them.

Ownbey said police told them one person was found in the dumpster at Hog Wild Pit Bar-B-Q, which is at the southwest corner of the intersection.

Hunt said officers and a police drone located the second suspect in some bushes.

Two additional firearms were found in the vehicle, Hunt said, adding that one of the three firearms was stolen.

This story was originally published October 2, 2025 at 3:33 PM.