A 6-year-old boy and a 35-year-old man were killed Saturday, and 11 others were taken to hospitals after a pickup truck drove onto a soccer field during a children's game in Wichita, Kansas. The female driver was arrested, and local police said two minors were in the vehicle with her. The circumstances remain under investigation, and authorities have not determined whether the incident was accidental or intentional.
The incident occurred around 3:25 p.m. local time at Stryker Sports Complex, which hosts soccer games for children and teenagers. According to police, emergency dispatchers received several calls reporting that a vehicle had entered the soccer fields and struck people. Large numbers of police officers, firefighters and medical personnel were dispatched to the scene, where they provided initial treatment before transporting the victims to area hospitals.
At a subsequent briefing, police identified the two people killed as a 6-year-old boy and a 35-year-old man, both residents of McPherson, Kansas. Authorities emphasized that the two were not related.
Police said 11 people were taken to hospitals, 10 of them with physical injuries. Among the injured were five children: a 5-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy, two 8-year-olds and a 9-year-old girl. Five adults were also injured, while another woman, 61, was taken for medical treatment unrelated to a direct physical injury. Police said none of the injuries were life-threatening.
A witness who spoke to local television station KWCH said a black pickup truck drove onto the children's soccer fields, struck several people and continued for approximately 90 to 180 meters (300 to 600 feet) before stopping. The witness said dozens of emergency responders arrived at the scene and performed resuscitation efforts on victims.
Vanessa Trammell, who had come to watch her 13-year-old son's soccer game on a nearby field, told CNN she saw the truck drive across the field and strike several people. Her son's game had ended shortly before the incident, and the players were gathered along the sidelines when the pickup passed close to them.
"We thought it was going to stop but then it like kept going. It was pure panic. I didn’t know what was going on – just that people were being hit. I’m pretty sure I probably screamed," she recalled.
Trammell said her first instinct was to find her son amid the chaos, while his team's coach ran toward the victims to help before emergency responders arrived.
Wichita Fire Chief Michael Mire said that when firefighters arrived, bystanders had already begun providing medical assistance to the injured.
"The community was very impressive when our firefighters arrived," he said. "They didn’t begin patient care, they continued patient care, taking charge of what the community had already begun providing to those who were injured."
Footage from the scene showed children wearing red sports uniforms near emergency vehicles and police tape.
The scene in Kansas
(Photo: Wyatt Glosson/KAKE-TV/AP)
"This is a tragedy," police officer Aaron Moses said. He said the driver was in custody and no longer posed a threat to the public. Moses confirmed that two minors were inside the vehicle at the time of the incident.
According to police, when officers and emergency personnel arrived, the driver and the two minors who had been with her were still near the pickup truck. The woman, 34, whose child was participating in a soccer game on another field at the complex, is cooperating with investigators. Police are still examining whether she intended to harm those present, and no decision has been made on whether charges will be filed against her.
Investigators are now trying to determine how the pickup reached the field, which is separated from the parking area by fences and gates, and how fast it was traveling. The complex has 11 outdoor soccer fields. Authorities have also not established whether the driver entered the field deliberately or lost control of the vehicle. Police have asked the public to submit videos and other footage recorded in the area during the incident to help reconstruct what happened.
At the same time as the soccer games, the complex was hosting games as part of the Kansas high school girls' flag football championship. Four teams from the Kansas City area were participating in the competition on a nearby field. Following the incident, the games were suspended, and participants and spectators were asked to leave the complex.
The Shawnee Mission School District announced that all its students and staff members had been accounted for and were safe.
Following the tragedy, Stryker Sports Complex management announced that all events at the venue had been canceled until further notice.
"Families came to Stryker Sports Complex to enjoy a Saturday afternoon watching their children play soccer. No one could have imagined the tragedy that would unfold," Wichita Mayor Lily Wu said at a news conference.
"My heart breaks for the families who have lost loved ones, especially the family grieving the loss of a child," she added.