Wichita man killed neighbor after argument about kids playing in street. He’s guilty
A man accused of fatally shooting a father of five following arguments about speeding and reckless behavior in their southeast Wichita neighborhood pleaded guilty this week to involuntary manslaughter.
38-year-old Allan Gunneson III was arrested in his front yard near E. Lincoln and S. Vassar on Sept. 12, 2025, after court documents say he shot 48-year-old neighbor Brian Baker six times in front of his wife, two of his children and other neighbors.
The shooting happened after Gunneson and Baker got into a fight over Gunneson’s driving in the residential area, an affidavit filed in the case said. The two had previously argued about Gunneson’s driving after witnesses said Gunneson nearly hit Baker’s daughter while she was riding her bike a few days before, the affidavit said.
On the day of the shooting, Baker, two of his children and another neighbor were playing football in the street when Gunneson drove by in his black Volkswagen Tiguan; Baker’s children and the other neighbor told police that Gunneson was “driving at high rate of speed and almost hit everyone in the street,” while Gunneson told police he slowed his speed to pass them before they started yelling at him to slow down.
After going inside his house and returning to his car to go to the gym, Gunneson said something — a football, the neighborhood kids later said — hit his vehicle. He grabbed his handgun from the console of the car and pointed it at one of the neighbors playing football before “he realized it was a bad idea,” the affidavit said.
Baker walked up to Gunneson’s driver side window and the two began verbally and physically fighting. At one point, Baker opened the driver’s door and Gunneson began to reverse the SUV with Baker still holding on, breaking the turn signal and wiper levers in the process.
That’s when Gunneson grabbed his gun and “shot the threat until it was neutralized,” he told police. As he got out of his car, he yelled at Baker’s wife that Baker “said he was going to (expletive) kill me.”
When police arrived at the scene, Gunneson made several spontaneous statements, including “please help him” and “I’m sorry,” the affidavit said.
Baker, who had been shot six times in the left side of his body, was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Gunneson was charged with voluntary manslaughter in connection with Baker’s death and aggravated assault for pointing his gun at a neighbor.
Gunneson, through his attorney, requested that the voluntary manslaughter charge be dismissed per statutory immunity because he “reasonably and honestly believed great bodily harm was necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm.”
“A reasonable person under similar circumstances would believe that lethal force was necessary to protect themselves or another,” the motion to dismiss read.
That motion was opposed by a deputy district attorney, who wrote that because Gunneson had committed an aggravated assault before the fatal shooting, he was not entitled to act in self-defense.
“Brian Baker’s actions, while perhaps ill-advised, were all consistent with efforts to prevent defendant from leaving in response to the aggravated assault,” the state’s response to the motion said. “Even after having been nearly ran over … Brian Baker did not take life-threatening action, or even prolonged injurious action, against defendant.”
Last week, Gunneson pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, and the aggravated assault charge was dropped in exchange for his guilty plea. He faces a maximum fine of $300,000 and at least 136 months — or 11 years and four months — in prison, an entry of plea document filed in the case said. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 13.
