Global Courant
WICHITA, Kan. –
A shooting at a Kansas nightclub early Sunday morning left seven people with gunshot wounds and two more hospitalized after being trampled in a rush to the exit, police said.
Lieutenant Aaron Moses of the Wichita Police Department said investigators believe several gunmen opened fire at the City Nightz club just before 1 a.m. One suspect was in custody Sunday morning, Moses said.
Shots were fired from at least four guns inside the club, Moses said. Police have recovered four guns and are investigating whether these were the guns used by the shooters.
No one was killed, but one person was seriously injured. All victims were treated at an area hospital, Moses said.
The gunshot victims included five men between the ages of 21 and 34, a 21-year-old woman and a 24-year-old woman, Moses said. The two people who were trampled were a 30-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man.
Detective Chris Merceau said at a news conference Sunday morning that police have been called to the nightclub about a dozen times this year for various incidents, including a report of an aggravated battery and a drive-by shooting on May 21.
He said police met with the owner of the club after that incident and discussed the importance of using electronic wands to detect guns on customers and surveillance cameras. He said investigators will try to determine whether any of those recommendations have been followed.
A message left on the club’s voicemail by The Associated Press on Sunday morning was not immediately answered. Police said the club and the surrounding area will be closed for some time while detectives investigate the crime scene.
The shootings were part of a particularly violent night in Wichita, a city of nearly 400,000 about 200 miles southwest of Kansas City, Missouri.
According to the police Facebook page, a 17-year-old boy was found dead around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. Investigators said it appears he was shot during an argument with a 21-year-old man, who showed up at a hospital with a gunshot wound to his hand. About twenty minutes after the City Nightz shooting on Sunday morning, a 35-year-old man was walking down a road when an unknown suspect shot him in the arm.
“We need to take action to counter this increase in gun violence that we are seeing,” said Mayor Brandon Whipple. “We need to come together as a community and especially talk to our youth about how resorting to gun violence is not the way to solve a problem or issue.”
