WICHITA, Kan. – A shooting during a domestic disturbance at an apartment complex killed three people early Wednesday, including the suspected gunman, and critically injured a fourth person, police said.
Two police officers were also shot when they arrived at the scene. Their wounds were not considered life threatening, police said.
The bodies of the suspected gunman, a 21-year-old man, and of an 18-year-old woman were found when police burst into a second-floor apartment, police spokesman Gordon Bassham said. Police believe the gunman killed himself.
A 22-year-old man shot several times was rescued from the apartment and was in critical condition, Bassham said. A third victim was found in a nearby unit of Woodgates Apartments.
The relationships between the victims were not immediately clear and a motive was under investigation, Bassham said.
The two officers were shot when they tried to enter the apartment about 3 a.m. Other officers pulled them and the injured man to safety.
Officers, concerned a hostage may have been inside, waited for nearly three hours, Bassham said. But when SWAT officers entered the apartment about 6 a.m., they found the bodies. It was not clear how long they had been dead.
One of the injured officers was in surgery with a wound to the lower torso and the second was shot in the leg.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox