A 6-year-old boy and 35-year-old man were killed, and 10 others were injured, when a woman drove a truck through a youth soccer game at a city sports complex in Wichita, Kansas, Saturday afternoon, police said.
The 34-year-old driver, from Garden City, Kansas, was in custody, though it wasn’t immediately clear if the incident at the Stryker Sports Complex was intentional, police said.
“She has been cooperative up to this point in the investigation,” Wichita Police Capt. Aaron Moses said at an evening news conference.
Both of the dead were from the city of McPherson, Moses said, but were not related to one another.
The injured include five children, ranging in age from 5 to 9 years old, as well as five men and women between 28 and 68 years old, he said.
“Those injuries span from minor injuries, like bruises, to extremely severe injuries,” the captain said. “But at this point, we believe those to be non-life-threatening.”
An additional patient, a 61-year-old woman, was hospitalized with “non-traumatic medical issues,” he said.
People began calling 911 shortly before 3:30 p.m., Moses said, “reporting that a vehicle had driven through a soccer game at Stryker Soccer Complex.”
First responders, including Kansas Highway Patrol officers, Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputies and police from nearby Bel Aire, found the boy and the man dead at the scene, he said.
They also saw bystanders tending to the injured.
“They saw community members and citizens rendering medical aid to those who were injured,” he said.
The driver was still in the truck, as were two children, Moses said. One of the women’s children had a game at the complex, though at a different field to where the crash occurred, he said.
Wichita Mayor Lily Wu said on her personal Facebook page that the incident left her filled with sorrow.
“I’m heartbroken by reports of a tragic incident at Stryker Sports Complex,” she said. “My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected, especially the children and families involved.”
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said in a statement that she’s monitoring the situation and has offered state resources to Wu.
“My condolences go out to the families of the victims, the survivors, and all those impacted by this event,” she said, adding that she was “very grateful” to first responders.
The Stryker Sports Complex is a city facility with 11 turf fields used for “all sports,” it states on its website. The city of Wichita said all events at the facility have been canceled for now.
The Kansas State High School Activities Association said its scheduled flag football state championship has been suspended, along with any other of its matches through the weekend.
An investigation into the incident was ongoing, police said.
In a statement posted to Facebook, the Wichita Police Department asked anyone with video of the incident to upload it so investigators could take a look.
