Seven people were shot and two others were trampled after a gunfight involving multiple patrons erupted early Sunday inside a Wichita, Kansas, nightclub. Police confirmed that the two people who suffered traumatic injuries, a 30-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man, were trampled in the mass scramble to escape the gunfire.
Lt. Aaron Moses, executive officer of the Wichita Police Department, said at a news conference on Sunday that at least four guns were fired during the shootout that erupted at 12:58 a.m. inside the City Nightz nightclub in the Old Town section of Wichita, Moses said an individual suspected of being one of the gunmen who opened fire inside the nightclub was taken into custody, and investigators are working to identify others involved in the shooting. A motive for the shooting is under investigation.
Authorities said that there has been an increased police presence in the Old Town area due to previous problems, including a shooting in May that killed a 19-year-old woman. Detective Chris Merceau of the Wichita Police Department said on Sunday that police have responded to 12 incidents associated with City Nightz in the past year, including investigating aggravated battery cases and a May 21 drive-by shooting. Lt. Moses said that officers were on patrol outside City Nightz when “they heard a disturbance and screams from inside the business and then a large number of people exited the business … trough that chaos … we ended up identifying, at this point, seven shooting victims and two traumatic injury victims. We believe all of the injuries occurred inside the business.”
Lt. Moses said that at least four guns were seized from inside the nightclub and police were analyzing them to determine if any of them were used in the shooting. He said the shooting victims included two women and five men ranging in age from 21 to 34; five were taken to hospitals by ambulance, with one of those listed in critical condition, while the others are expected to survive non-life-threatening injuries.
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