Two Dead, Ten Hurt After Pickup Leaves Parking Space and Crosses Wichita Soccer Field
Investigators are waiting on toxicology and vehicle inspection results. Police have not said why the truck moved.
WICHITA, Kan. — Games were under way at Stryker Sports Complex in northeast Wichita on Saturday when a pickup truck pulled out of its parking space and drove onto a youth soccer field. Two people were killed: a 6-year-old boy and a 35-year-old man. Wichita police say ten others were hurt. Nearly two days on, investigators can’t say what set the truck in motion.
Sedgwick County 911 began getting calls at roughly 3:25 p.m. on Oct. 17. Callers said a vehicle had driven through a soccer game at Stryker Sports Complex, police said. The preliminary investigation found that a dark Chevrolet pickup had been parked near the fields. It then drove onto one of them, striking children and adults.
Outside the complex, Police Capt. Aaron Moses told reporters the afternoon had been a tragedy. Officers and deputies from the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office and the Bel Aire Police Department all went to the scene. The boy and the man had already died by the time they reached the field.
Authorities identified the dead as Cole Adrian, 6, and Nicholas Schafer, 35. Both lived in McPherson, about an hour north of Wichita, and police say the two had no family connection. The department’s first release had the boy’s name backwards, and officers fixed it afterward. Because several news outlets kept the flipped version, he may also appear as Adrian Cole.
The injured
The ten people hurt ranged from 5 to 68 years old. Police said five were children: two 5-year-olds, two 8-year-olds and a 9-year-old. All were taken to Ascension Via Christi or Wesley Medical Center, and police don’t expect any of the injuries to be fatal. Some were minor and others were severe.
A 61-year-old woman was taken to a hospital as well, making 11 people transported in all. Police said hers was a medical problem separate from the crash. That explains why some outlets report 10 injured and others report 11 hospitalized.
The driver
Police say the driver is a 34-year-old woman from Garden City, Kansas, and that her license is valid. Her two children were in the truck with her. A third child was playing in a match on a different field at the complex.
Officers took her into custody Saturday. After more than 30 witness interviews and a consultation with the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office, police released her Sunday. They said she was released pending toxicology testing and a mechanical examination of the truck. No charges have been filed. Moses described her as cooperative during Saturday evening’s news conference.
Whether the crash was deliberate is something police haven’t addressed. Release without charges is common while a case awaits lab and vehicle results, and it does not by itself indicate what investigators have concluded. Investigators have not publicly offered a cause or theory.
A fenced facility and a puzzle
One detail stands out. Moses said it is not yet clear how fast the truck was going or how it got past the complex’s perimeter, which is fenced and has a concrete approach leading to the parking lot. The mechanical inspection may help with that. Investigators will likely be looking at whether the truck malfunctioned or whether human error was involved. Police have not said either is likely.
What witnesses described
Several people near the fields have given accounts to local and national outlets. One witness told KWCH that a black pickup came through the youth fields, hit multiple people and stopped a considerable distance down the fields. Vanessa Trammell was at the complex for her 13-year-old son’s match. She told CNN she watched the truck cross a neighboring field close to the sidelines, striking several people.
None of these accounts is a full picture. They are what people remember of a few frantic seconds, and police haven’t said how they line up with the timeline investigators are building. Some bystanders reportedly rushed in to help before ambulances got there. Police want photos or video from anyone who was at the complex that day. The department has posted a link on social media for that purpose.
Why the video request matters
Footage from the sidelines could answer questions that witness statements cannot. It may show the truck’s path and speed, and it may show whether it braked or swerved. Investigators are also likely to rely on the truck’s own data and on the toxicology results. Those results can take days or weeks.
What remains unknown
Police haven’t given a timeline for answers, and some of the most basic questions are still unresolved:
What made the truck leave its parking space and drive onto the field
Whether the crash was intentional, which police have called unclear
Whether a mechanical failure played any role
Whether toxicology results will show anything relevant
How the vehicle got past the complex’s fencing and approach
Charging decisions rest with prosecutors. Police said they consulted the district attorney’s office early on. Neither agency has indicated whether charges are likely.
A community absorbing the loss
Stryker Sports Complex draws families from across the region on weekends, with several fields in use at once. The crash happened where children play and parents watch. Police Chief Joe Sullivan said in a statement that the department’s thoughts are with the families of Adrian and Schafer. He said officers and investigators will keep working to establish exactly what happened.
Many people who were present, or who have children in the leagues that use the complex, will be waiting on the findings. The families of the dead and injured are waiting too.
This report draws on statements and releases from the Wichita Police Department as relayed by CNN, NBC News, Fox News, Newsweek, KWCH, KAKE and Kansas News Service. Details may change as the investigation continues.
