WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – A 41-year-old man is dead after an officer-involved shooting in east Wichita early Sunday morning.
Wichita police received a call shortly after 2 a.m., sending them to the 800 block of N. Terrace, near Oliver and Central. Police said a QuikTrip clerk called 911 to report that a woman came into the store to say that her boyfriend threatened her, made suicidal statements, and possibly fired a gun at home on Terrace.
Officers arrived at the store at Oliver and Central, and the woman was gone. Additional officers arrived at the home and contacted a resident who said he had a man staying with him who had relationship issues. The resident called to the man, but he did not respond. Officers were then allowed inside the home.
Officers made contact with the 41-year-old who was in bed. They asked him to get out and show his hands. Video by police shows he ignored the commands as he was reaching for the ground.
Instead, he produced a gun that was under blankets from the floor and raised it. The Wichita police officer fired four shots striking the man.
“They gave him commands, asking him what he was hiding underneath the blanket,” said Capt. Jason Stephens, Wichita Police Department. “He did emerge from the floor after disobeying their commands to stop what he was doing, and display the handgun and began to point in the direction of the officers.”
Stephens said officers rendered aid, and EMS was called. The man died of his injuries. He has been identified as 41-year-old Jess Jackson of Wichita.
Police said that Jackson previously had a history of domestic violence in Oklahoma and multiple traffic warrants in Wichita and Newton.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has been called to assist in the investigation. Police said the officer who fired her weapon was put on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. She has been in the department for about a year. No other officers were injured.
Police said they were able to interview the woman who had been dating Jackson before they broke up. She told officers she broke up with Jackson over “drug-related issues” and “irrational statements based on hallucinations.”
“Basically, hallucinations that he’s been experiencing that he’s threatened to harm a pet belonging to her and that he’s threatened to burn her house down,” said Capt. Stephens.
Police said she made a report on Oct. 1 reporting domestic violence in which Jackson assaulted her.
“In the hours leading up to this incident last night, she had phone and text conversation with Mr. Jackson, where he made threats to harm himself. He also told her that if she were to call the police that he would end it in a, or that he would engage in a shootout, and that he will be dead before police arrive,” said Capt. Stephens.
Once police and the KBI complete their investigation, they will turn it over to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office for review.
