WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — One man died and five women were injured early Tuesday in a shooting at a downtown nightclub in Wichita, Kansas, and police were still searching for the suspected shooter hours later, officials said.
The shooting happened just after 12:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Enigma Club & Lounge, police said. Officers found one man with a fatal gunshot to his torso and five women ranging in age from 22 to 40 with gunshot wounds.
Police later identified the man killed as Preston Spencer, 34, of Wichita. Social media posts Tuesday morning from Spencer’s family say he was a married father of two young children.
Police Capt. Jason Stephens said during a news conference that all of the women were take to hospitals with serious injuries, but were expected to survive.
Stephens identified the suspected shooter as Keshawn Maurice Dawson, of Wichita, who still had not been found by midday Tuesday. Police said Dawson had been involved in a fight inside the club earlier in the night and was kicked out by club employees.
Stephens said detectives believe Dawson returned a short time later and opened fire with a handgun from the sidewalk through the club’s front door and windows. He then fled in a dark-colored vehicle driven by someone else, Stephens said.
At the time of the shooting, Dawson was wanted on two felony arrest warrants, Stephens said, and was a convicted felon prohibited by law from owning a gun. Stephens declined to give Dawson’s exact age, saying only that he was 22 or 23 years old.
Investigators used surveillance video from the club and other nearby businesses, as well as witness statements, to identify Dawson as the shooting suspect, Stephens said.
“We’re still looking into the victims’ relationship — if there was any relationship — with the suspect,” Stephens said.
