A 34-year-old woman who drove a pickup onto a Kansas youth soccer field, killing a 6-year-old boy and a man, has been released without charges as investigators seek answers.
The Chevrolet pickup left a parking space and rolled onto the field at about 3:25 p.m. Saturday during a youth soccer game at Stryker Sports Complex in northeast Wichita, killing two people on the spot and sending others to hospitals.
Fox News reported that Cole Adrian, 6, and Nicholas Schafer, 35, both of McPherson, Kansas, died on the field despite lifesaving efforts. They were not related. Ten others suffered noncritical injuries from the crash, and police said five of those hurt were children.
Wichita police announced Sunday that the 34-year-old woman driver had been released without charges. Officers are waiting on toxicology results and a mechanical examination of the truck before any charging decision.
Investigators have not said whether the crash was intentional, a medical emergency, impairment, or something else. That gap leaves families and a stunned community without a clear explanation for a Saturday that was supposed to be about kids playing soccer.
The injured children included a 5-year-old girl, a 5-year-old boy, two 8-year-old boys, and a 9-year-old girl. Five injured adults ranged in age from 28 to 68. Hospitals receiving the wounded included Ascension Via Christi and Wesley Medical Center.
Eleven people were transported in all. One additional patient, a 61-year-old woman, was hospitalized for medical complications unrelated to traumatic injuries from the crash.
The driver had two of her own children inside the pickup when it entered the field. Another of her children was playing soccer on a different field at the complex.
Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan addressed the human toll.
"What should have been a day of children playing soccer and families spending time together ended in tragedy."
He added that the department was thinking of the injured, their families, and everyone who saw what happened.
"We know this tragedy has affected many people throughout our community, and we want those families to know they are not alone."
Police first took the woman into custody. After interviewing more than 30 witnesses, including the children who had been inside the truck, and after consulting the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office, they released her without charges pending the lab work and vehicle inspection.
At a Saturday news conference, Capt. Aaron Moses said the driver held a valid license, had no outstanding arrest warrants, and was cooperating with investigators.
Breitbart noted Chief Sullivan’s update that officers and investigators will keep working to understand exactly what happened, and that no charges have been filed to date.
Sullivan put the unfinished work in plain terms Saturday.
"We know what happened, but now we’re working very hard to find out why it happened."
Police expect to make an initial case presentation to Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett early this week. The DA’s office told reporters it will share information as appropriate after that review.
The open questions are concrete: what the toxicology shows, what the mechanical exam finds on the Chevrolet pickup, and whether prosecutors will file charges once those results arrive. Until then, a driver linked to two deaths and multiple injuries remains free of charges.
The crash halted more than the soccer match underway. On an adjacent field, the Kansas State High School Activities Association was running its inaugural girls flag football state championship. Officials suspended play. The games did not resume that weekend.
Sporting Wichita Academy spoke to the wider damage in a Facebook post, calling soccer a community of families in the stands and teammates standing together, then saying that community is hurting and must lean on one another.
Local restaurant Meddys pledged 20 percent of revenue from its Wichita and Salina locations from Oct. 18 through Oct. 24 to the affected families. The business also offered free meals to immediate families of the injured while they remained hospitalized and partnered with Kingdom Athletics Mission, a local nonprofit, to route donations and a GoFundMe to McPherson families hit by the crash.
Meddys framed the help in simple terms: with so much to carry, figuring out the next meal should not be one more worry, and Wichita takes care of its neighbors in moments like this.
Police asked anyone with information to call 316-268-4407 or Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111.
Two people are dead. Children are among the hurt. The truck is still under examination, the driver’s bloodwork is still pending, and the public still has no settled answer for why a pickup left a parking space and ended a youth soccer Saturday in tragedy. Accountability starts with those facts, not with silence while families wait.
