Pickup Truck Plows Through Youth Soccer Game in Wichita, Killing 6-Year-Old Boy and a Man

WICHITA, Kan., Oct. 17 (TodayViralUSA) — A woman drove a pickup truck across a field during a youth soccer game in Wichita on Saturday afternoon, killing a 6-year-old boy and a 35-year-old man and sending 10 other people, half of them children, to the hospital, police said.

The 34-year-old driver, from Garden City, Kansas, was taken into custody at the scene. Investigators said it was not yet clear whether the crash at the Stryker Sports Complex in east Wichita was intentional.

Calls began shortly before 3:30 p.m.

Sedgwick County’s 911 center began receiving calls at about 3:25 p.m. reporting that a vehicle had driven through a soccer game at the complex near 29th Street North and Greenwich Road, Wichita Police Capt. Aaron Moses told reporters. A witness told local station KWCH that a black pickup came across the youth fields, striking several people before it stopped roughly 100 to 200 yards away.

Officers from Wichita, the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office and neighboring Bel Aire arrived to find the boy and the man dead and bystanders already giving first aid to the injured, Moses said. Both of those killed were from McPherson, Kansas, and were not related to each other.

Five children among the injured

Police said the injured include five children between the ages of 5 and 9 and five adults between 28 and 68. Their injuries range from bruises to what Moses described as “extremely severe,” though authorities said they believed none were life-threatening. A 61-year-old woman was also taken to the hospital for a medical issue not caused by the crash.

The driver was still inside the truck when officers arrived, along with two girls, police said. Moses said the woman had a child playing in a game at the complex on a different field, held a valid driver’s license and had been cooperative with investigators. He declined to say what had happened to the two children in the vehicle.

“She has been cooperative up to this point in the investigation,” Moses said at an evening news conference.

Complex closed as investigation continues

Police said there was no ongoing threat to the public. Investigators have not said how fast the truck was traveling or how it got onto the field, and they have asked anyone with video of the incident to share it with the department.

The City of Wichita canceled all events at the sports complex until further notice and asked the public to stay away from the area. Anyone with information can contact Wichita police investigators at 316-268-4407 or Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111.