4-year-old Wichita girl hit by bullet while watching fireworks
6 July 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A suspect in a Butler County shooting is dead after a pursuit with Kansas Highway Patrol in Sedgwick County.
The suspect was described as a woman from Wichita in her 60s. The victim in the shooting is described as a 44-year-old man from Blue Springs, Missouri. The Butler County Sheriff’s Office says the victim is in serious but stable condition.
Seth Alderson works at Bel Aire Secure Storage and witnessed the aftermath of the KHP pursuit that ended when the shooting suspect’s pickup crashed into the storage facility’s sign.
“Still processing some things,” Alderson said. “It’s a little, little weird seeing that type of thing firsthand— I mean, not something I’ve ever experienced in my life.”
Alderson says Bel Aire Secure Storage opened between six and seven weeks ago. He says while he’s still shaken from what happened, he’s glad the pursuit came to an end before anyone else could have gotten hurt.
“The police department and the fire department that were here: very professional,” Alderson said. “I mean, they did everything they could do from what I saw—because it could have been a lot worse.”
The KHP says the pursuit stemmed from a shooting near Kansas Highway 254 and Shumway Road at 10:30 Wednesday morning.
At 10:45 a.m., a KHP trooper spotted the suspect’s vehicle heading westbound on K-254 and attempted a traffic stop. The KHP says the vehicle failed to yield, and a pursuit ensued.
KHP troopers inspect a pickup that crashed in the 5000 block of N. Webb Road, July 5, 2023. (KSN Photo)
At 10:46 a.m., the trooper performed a TVI (Tactical Vehicle Intervention) on the pick-up, which caused it to run off the roadway. The shooting suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.
“This vehicle being a suspect of a shooting, it’s traveling into a, getting ready to travel into a highly populated part of the city of Wichita in the north side of Wichita at that point, patrol attempted a tactical vehicle intervention at that point,” KHP Trooper Chad Crittenden said.
A spokesperson with KHP issued the following statement Wednesday evening:
“Considering the violent nature of the violation in this case, and that the pursuit would be going into a high-volume traffic area of Wichita, the decision to TVI would keep the public safer by ending the pursuit rather than letting it continue and putting the public at more risk. Officers are required to consider multiple factors in deciding to use a TVI in a pursuit, including the nature of the violation, their experience and abilities, and the danger of allowing the violator to continue down the roadway prior to each attempt to TVI the violator’s vehicle. An administrative review of the incident will be conducted due to the seriousness of the injuries involved in the crash.”
The KHP is handling the investigation of the crash. Crittenden said the Butler County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting.