Driver Released After Pickup Kills 2 at Wichita Youth Soccer Game

WICHITA, Kan. — Police in Wichita have released the driver who drove a pickup onto a youth soccer field Saturday, killing a boy of 6 and a man of 35.

The 34-year-old woman left custody after she was tested for drugs and alcohol and mechanics went over her truck, the Wichita Police Department said, according to CNN. She has not been charged. Detectives still do not know how the truck got onto the field at the Stryker Sports Complex, or why, police said.

The dead were Adrian Cole, 6, and Nicholas Schafer, 35. Police said both came from McPherson and were not related. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Eleven more people got hurt, the youngest 5, the oldest 68. Five were children. The injuries ran from bruises to some police called extremely severe, but none looked life-threatening, police said. One more woman went to a hospital for a medical problem officers said had nothing to do with the crash.

The first 911 calls to Sedgwick County came in at about 3:25 p.m. Saturday, caller after caller reporting a vehicle driving through a game at the complex. Bystanders were already helping the injured when firefighters and police arrived, officials said.

“This is a tragedy,” Wichita police Capt. Aaron Moses told reporters outside the complex.

The driver is from Garden City, Kansas, police said. One of her children was playing soccer at the complex on a different field, and two of her children were riding in the truck when it entered the field. She stayed at the scene and cooperated with investigators, police said.

Wichita Fire Chief Michael Mire said community members had already begun medical care before firefighters arrived. “They didn’t begin patient care, they continued patient care,” he said.

Mayor Lily Wu called it a heartbreaking day for the city. “Families came to Stryker Sports Complex to enjoy a Saturday afternoon, watching their children play soccer, and no one could have imagined the tragedy that would unfold,” she said.

The city has canceled all events at the complex until further notice. Police said they have interviewed more than 30 witnesses and asked anyone with photos or video of the crash to share them with investigators.