Man wanted by WPD critically injured in exchange of gunfire in Park City
A man wanted in connection with domestic-violence-related crimes was shot and critically injured Wednesday morning after a shoot-out involving three law enforcement entities behind a Park City RV dealership.
Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter said during a media briefing Wednesday morning that the man, who has not been identified further, was taken into custody and hospitalized after he drove a truck through the business’s fence and hid from officers on the property before two separate exchanges of gunfire.
Easter said it began at 2:36 a.m. when the man’s mother called police to report that her son, who she said she thought was wanted by law enforcement, was at her house.
The man was wanted by Wichita police, Easter said, for aggravated battery, criminal threat and criminal damage to property, all of which were domestic violence-related crimes.
Police from Valley Center responded, but saw that the man and the truck that he was in were gone. Not long after, Easter said, a Park City officer spotted him near the Maverik gas station close to North Hartman Arena Drive and East 77th.
“A Park City officer . . . sees the truck, turns around on the truck, and the individual flees from the Park City officer,” Easter said.
It was “a very short chase,” Easter said, that ended around 2:44 a.m. when the truck drove into the fence of Blue Compass RV near I-135 and West 85th Street.
“His truck goes in through the fence and then the fence closes behind him, which then the officer, and there was another deputy that was there, could not get in through that fence,” Easter said.
Law enforcement officers from the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office, Park City police and Maize police then set up a perimeter around the business and started searching the property for the man.
After more than two hours of searching, Easter said, they found the man hiding behind a trailer.
“At that point, he runs with a gun in his hand, and shots were fired at 5:18,” he said.
The man then hid underneath a trailer, and more gunshots were fired before he was taken into custody around 5:34 a.m.
Paramedics were called for the man, who had been shot once in the arm during one of the shoot-outs. Easter said they’re still investigating who fired a gun at whom, but said that one of the deputies said that the wanted man did fire his weapon.
Easter confirmed that no officers were hurt, and that officers with each of the three present agencies fired gunshots at the man. As a result, Easter said, the ALERT protocol was triggered and the Wichita Police Department will “investigate this case as an outside entity for transparency.”
“It’s a relatively large facility,” Phil Bostian, the Park City police chief, said. “It’s very difficult for officers to search this facility, and so we cooperate with all of our surrounding jurisdictions, and we appreciate the help on this incident.”
