SEDGWICK COUNTY —Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter, on behalf of the Advanced Law Enforcement Response Team, gave an update Wednesday on the officer involved shooting that occurred Monday.
Just before 3:30p.m. Monday, police and Wichita Mental Health officials responded to report of a man threatening suicide who had access to firearms in the 1400 Block of W. Haskell in Wichita.. The man's family made the call to police.
According to Sheriff Easter the man, later identified as 27-year-old Antonio “Tony” Hernandez-Zuniga, had mental health struggles and suicidal ideations for some time before Monday’s incident. He had even attempted to take his own life in recent days, according to Easter.
Crews arrived and began gathering information to assess the situation. They attempted contact Hernandez-Zuniga by phone but did not receive an answer.
Two officers and a police sergeant approached the residence on foot believing Hernandez-Zuniga was inside. As they approached an officer spotted a man sitting inside a pickup in the driveway.
As an officer approached the driver’s side of the vehicle a shot was fired from inside that truck and the round exited the driver's side window. The officer then retreated and fired his weapon five times into the vehicle. The Police Sergeant then approached the pickup and made an effort to break the driver's side window. He eventually used his baton to break the window. He then reached into the vehicle to retrieve a 9mm firearm Hernandez-Zuniga had in his right hand.
EMS pronounced Hernandez-Zuniga dead at the scene. No Wichita Police officers were injured.
According to the Forensic Science Center, an autopsy performed on Hernandez-Zuniga indicated he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He also suffered a gunshot wound to the back of the head from one of the officer’s rounds, according to Sheriff Easter.