Shawnee Mission students unharmed after deadly truck incident at Wichita sports complex

Four Johnson County teams, including SM West and SM South, were in Wichita for the inaugural state girls flag football championship, which has been suspended.

Two people, including a six-year-old boy, were killed Saturday in Wichita when a truck drove onto a field at a youth soccer game near where two Shawnee Mission schools were playing flag football.

District officials say no students, staff or anyone connected to Shawnee Mission schools were injured in the incident, which left 11 other people hospitalized.

Emergency responders were called to the Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita at about 3:25 p.m. Saturday. There, Wichita Police confirmed two individuals, a 6-year-old boy and a 35-year-old man, both from McPherson, Kansas, had been killed after a black pickup truck drove through a soccer field at the popular youth and rec league sports complex.

Eleven other people were taken to the hospital, 10 of those with traumatic but not life-threatening injuries, Wichita Police Capt. Aaron Moses said at a press conference that was livestreamed on Facebook.

According to police, those injured range in age from 5 to 68. Five children are among those injured.

The driver of the truck, a 34-year-old woman from Garden City, Kansas, is in custody and cooperative with police, Moses said. Two juvenile girls were also in the vehicle when the incident occurred.

“There is no further ongoing threat at this time. We will provide further updates when we have additional information,” Wichita Police said.

JoCo flag football teams in Wichita

Four teams from Johnson County were in Wichita Saturday for the final rounds of the inaugural state girls flag football championship, including St. Thomas Aquinas, Shawnee Mission West, Shawnee Mission South and St. James Academy.

The truck drove onto a field where a separate youth soccer match was taking place at the time that SM West and SM South were playing in the state flag football third-place game.

“The incident occurred as Shawnee Mission West and Shawnee Mission South girls flag football teams were playing on an adjacent field (separated by fencing and gated entrance),” Jake Potter, a Shawnee Mission School District spokesperson, said in a message to the Johnson County Post.

Potter confirmed that no Shawnee Mission families, staff or students were injured.

St. James Academy and St. Thomas Aquinas did not immediately respond to a request for more information on Saturday.

The Kansas State High School Activities Association announced it was suspending the third-place game that had been in progress, as well as the state championship game that had been scheduled for 5 p.m.

“Given the nature of the emergency, we felt it was best to suspend the flag football third-place and championship games until a later date. Details will be announced Monday,” KSHSAA said in a post on Facebook.

Student athletes, coaches and spectators were instructed to leave the facility and were directed off the property by Kansas Highway Patrol and Wichita police officers.

“All SMSD families and staff are accounted for, and our thoughts are with all those involved and impacted by today’s tragedy,” Potter said.

Wichita police are asking anyone who may have video of the incident to submit it at this link: https://wichitapd.evidence.com/axon/community-request/public/stryker

“Regardless of how significant you believe your footage may be, we encourage you to submit it. Even the smallest detail could assist investigators,” Wichita PD said.

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About the author

Andrew Gaug
Andrew Gaug

? Hi! I’m Andrew Gaug, and I cover Shawnee and Lenexa for the Johnson County Post.

I received my bachelor’s degree in journalism from Kent State University and started my career as a business reporter for The Vindicator in Youngstown, Ohio.

I spent 14 years as a multimedia reporter for the St. Joseph News-Press before joining the Post in 2023.

Have a story idea or a comment about our coverage you’d like to share? Email me at [email protected].

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