Affidavit describes evening turned deadly as fathers argued over kids playing in the street
What began as a neighborhood argument over kids playing in the street ended in gunfire on a quiet block of South Vassar.
Minutes earlier, children had been tossing a football outside. By the time Wichita police arrived, a father was dead, a driver claimed he’d feared for his life and the street had become a crime scene.
Wichita police arrived in the 900 block of South Vassar on Sept. 12 to find 48-year-old Brian Baker dead in a front yard with multiple gunshot wounds, a recently released affidavit said. Baker, a father of five, was taken to a hospital but was pronounced dead.
Baker’s neighbor, 38-year-old Allan Gunneson III, was standing on a nearby lawn. He was taken to City Hall and questioned.
Gunneson told officers that he and Baker had been arguing about his driving in the south Wichita neighborhood, according to the affidavit. It was not the first time, he said, that tempers had flared over the subject.
The argument began around Sept. 9 after Gunneson was driving his black Volkswagen in the neighborhood and swerved to avoid hitting Baker’s daughter on her bike.
Witnesses said Baker and Gunneson argued about his speed, and Gunneson told police Baker threatened to beat him up and kill him, the affidavit said. Gunneson’s son, who was on the phone with him at the time, said his father warned Baker that he was not “the guy to mess with.”
A few days later, Baker was playing football with his children and some neighborhood kids outside his home. Surveillance video from the neighborhood captured much of the confrontation leading up to the Sept. 12 shooting. The footage shows people playing catch in the street as cars slowly pass by. Around 5:48 p.m., Gunneson drove through the area.
That’s when, the affidavit describes, Gunneson exited the vehicle with a black handgun and pointed it at one of the neighborhood boys.
“As soon as he (Gunneson) did that, he realized it was a bad idea and put it back in the console,” the affidavit read. “He said that everyone was ‘freaking out’ and charged at him.”
Witness accounts described in the affidavit said that Baker confronted Gunneson in his vehicle, accusing him of driving recklessly and pointing a gun at one of the neighborhood children.
Gunneson said he rolled down the driver window to try to de-escalate the situation and Baker grabbed the top of the window. Gunneson told police that he told Baker he did not want to fight, the affidavit said.
Baker opened the car door, Gunneson told police, and grabbed his left shoulder and wrist. From neighborhood surveillance video, Baker then can be heard saying “Don’t let him get out” and “He’s a minor.”
The two began to argue, the affidavit said, and then began punching each other.
Baker’s son ran inside the house and urged his mother to open the family gun safe, saying, “The man showed us a gun.” Moments later, Baker’s wife and son — who had briefly armed himself with a BB gun — are seen walking toward the argument, according to surveillance video described in the affidavit.
Gunneson told police he was very scared, so he reversed the car. Baker held on to the vehicle, breaking the turn signal and wiper levers, Gunneson said.
Gunneson told police he heard Baker threaten to kill him, according to the affidavit. People who are not in view of the video can be heard saying “Give me the gun” and “If you pull a gun, I’m gonna kill ya.”
“Gunneson III said he was terrified, grabbed his gun and ‘shot the threat until it was neutralized,’” the affidavit read. “He said he’d never been more scared in his life.”
After the shots, Gunneson stepped out of his vehicle and can be heard saying, “He said he was going to (expletive) kill me.” He proceeded to unload the gun, enter his home, call his wife and admit to shooting his neighbor before surrendering to police outside his home, the affidavit said.
Gunneson has been charged with voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault, according to court documents. He posted a $150,000 bond and will make his next court appearance on Nov. 17.
A lawyer listed in court records for Gunneson did not respond to a request for comment.
