FBI terrorism unit investigating poison powder mailed to Sedgwick County officials

The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating a potential biological attack aimed at Sedgwick County government, county officials said Monday.

The Sedgwick County Finance Department received a certified letter from a group claiming to be part of a Moorish nationalist group on Monday afternoon. The origin of the letter is under investigation, Sedgwick County Manager Tom Stolz said.

Inside the envelope was a three-page document coated with an unknown white powder later identified in a field test as diaminotoluene, a highly toxic and potentially fatal substance used in dye making. Two employees handled the letter and began to experience symptoms, Stolz said.

One county employee was sent to a Wichita hospital on Monday and is recovering at home, according to a news release from Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Lt. Benjamin Blick. Three others had “minor symptoms” of exposure but continued to work on Tuesday, Blick said.

After handling the document, one employee began coughing and another had a skin irritation.

They received medical evaluations and appeared to be “OK,” Stolz said.

Three additional finance employees, two courthouse police officers and two sheriff’s deputies were also decontaminated as a precaution, according to a news release from the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office.

Sedgwick County Commissioner Lacey Cruse said the apparent attack “definitely rattles the nerves.”

“Decisions made by county officials, myself included, are at times gut wrenching,” she said in a written statement Monday afternoon. “I get it that some people are not happy with policy decisions but there is never a reason to attack public officials. We are doing the best we can knowing that all decisions made and votes cast will affect our families too. This is scary stuff and completely uncalled for.”

This story was originally published March 22, 2021 at 5:01 PM.