Wichita police seek suspect after shooting and crash Halloween night
Wichita police are still looking for a suspect after a car crash and shooting in east Wichita on Friday night that left one person in critical condition.
A small crowd had gathered near Central and Oliver on Friday for a memorial balloon release, according to police.
Wichita police spokesman Andrew Ford said the department had received earlier in the day, “unverified information that there may be some type of violence in the area.” As a result, Wichita police were at the balloon release, which marked the death of someone killed a year ago on Halloween, he said.
That’s when, Ford said, officers saw a man they knew to be in violation of probation conditions.
“Officers ... tried to stop that male when that male entered a vehicle and attempted to flee with several other males,” Ford said at a media briefing Friday night.
Officers pursued the vehicle until it crashed into another vehicle at Eighth and Edgemoor. The driver of the second vehicle had minor injuries, police said.
Four of the five men inside the vehicle, Ford said, then fled on foot. Three were caught and detained while a fourth remains at large. He said police, including the Kansas Highway Patrol, have deployed a helicopter, drones and a K-9 in the search.
“We do not have a lot of other details at this time, but we are again looking for a fourth male out of the five males that were in the vehicle. That fourth male is still at large,” Ford said.
A fifth man, the driver of the fleeing vehicle, was found inside with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to his upper body, Ford said. The man was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
According to Kansas Highway Patrol crash log records, four occupants of the fleeing vehicle — including the person who was shot — were teenagers. Two occupants are 16 years old, and two occupants are 14.
The investigation is still ongoing; police do not have a description of the fourth suspect. But they do think, Police Chief Joe Sullivan said, that the incident is likely related to the homicide in the neighborhood last year.
“Unfortunately, last year, we had a homicide and we believe this is likely related,” Sullivan said. “This is a problem that we’re experiencing with juveniles and access to guns and that’s why we were out here in a very proactive mode.”
Police ask those who live in the area who may have seen or heard something, to contact law enforcement, and residents should be cautious.
“At this time, we don’t have reason to believe he is dangerous but again anyone who flees from a vehicle, flees from law enforcement, we would encourage anyone to use caution if they were to encounter a man who runs from law enforcement,” Ford said.
