EARLIER RELEASE
Fatal officer-involved shooting in Wichita
Wichita, Kan. – The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) is investigating an officer-involved shooting that occurred Saturday in Wichita, Kansas.
The Wichita Police Department (WPD) requested KBI assistance at approximately 8:20 p.m., on Saturday, May 23. KBI agents responded to investigate.
The WPD responded to several 911 calls Saturday, between 3 p.m. and 4:35 p.m. reporting a male subject causing disturbances at several businesses in the area of K-96 and Greenwich. Callers described an armed man pointing his firearm at business employees and several vehicles.
Officers caught up to the man in the 8800 block of East 21st St. North, near Wilson Estates. He ran from the officers and a foot chase followed. A WPD officer attempted to deploy a taser, but was unsuccessful. The subject then fired once toward the officers. The officers were not injured and backed away.
The WPD and Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office’s joint SWAT team responded. Crisis negotiators, a helicopter, and drones were also deployed to help locate and monitor the armed man during the incident. Officers located him barricaded in a tree line near a residential area. They established a perimeter and negotiators attempted to communicate with him for several hours.
At around 7:25 p.m., an armored tactical vehicle was used to safely approach the man, in order to provide him a communication device.
Preliminary information indicates that the subject pointed his firearm toward officers who were on a platform of the tactical vehicle. One officer from WPD fired his weapon striking the man. The subject returned fire, and the same officer then fired multiple additional rounds.
Life-saving measures were attempted, and the man was transported to an area hospital. He was later pronounced deceased at the hospital. No law enforcement officers were injured during the incident.
Authorities are still working to contact the man's next of kin to notify them of his death.
This independent investigation aims to discover all events leading up to the officer-involved shooting. In police use of force cases, the KBI releases details to the public as soon as possible. This information is preliminary in nature and is based on evidence collected and early statements of the parties involved, witnesses, medical personnel, and others. It does not represent final or thorough findings, which take several weeks to complete.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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