SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating a violent confrontation near a Kansas elementary school that sent a woman and her attacker to the hospital.
Just after 9a.m. Monday, Sedgwick County Emergency Communications began to receive reports of a shooting outside Cessna Elementary School, 2101 West 45th Street South in Wichita, according to a statement from Police Chief Joe Sullivan during a Tuesday afternoon news conference.
The call was broadcast on all law enforcement radio channels. A Sedgwick County Deputy heard the call and responded. When the deputy arrived, he located a 46-year-old man from Wichita who was armed with a handgun. The man made statements that the deputy would kill him while pointing the gun at the deputy, according to Sullivan.
The suspect than ran to and laid on top of a 30-year-old woman. The deputy gave commands for the man to drop his gun and observed the suspect place the fun to the woman's head.
In defense of the woman, the deputy fired his gun twice. The suspect would not let go of the woman. The deputy then attempted to disarm the man physically. It took two Wichita Police officers and the deputy to disarm the suspect.
Investigators have learned that the man and woman live together and have children together. The couple had an argument in a vehicle on the way to the school which led to the suspect shooting the woman multiple times. The woman ran toward the school and the suspect chased her. A Wichita Public School staff member saw the suspect with the gun approaching the school and pulled the door of the school shut and locked it so the suspect could not get inside.
EMS transported the suspect and the woman to an area hospital. Both are expected to survive, according to Sullivan. When the suspect is released from the hospital, he faces charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer. Police have not released the name of the suspect.
The Advanced Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) was activated to conduct this investigation. ALERT team investigators will present the facts of this case to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office for formal charging consideration.