Haysville police fired 22 rounds at suicidal man: SCSO

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter held a news conference Thursday to discuss an officer-involved shooting in Haysville that killed a suicidal man .

The shooting happened on Tuesday, March 26, in the 200 block of N. Main St. Easter said at approximately 4:57 p.m., Haysville police received a call from a woman who said her boyfriend was suicidal and she was afraid he would kill himself.

Easter said the woman told officers she believed the man, later identified as 68-year-old Bill Osterhout, had a handgun.

Officers arrived at the home in Haysville and contacted the girlfriend, who showed them a series of texts that also concerned police.

“They (believed they) had a suicidal individual and felt that either he had already committed suicide or was looking in that direction,” Easter said.

One of the officers who responded left the scene to go look for the man, and he was located at 5:31 p.m. in his pickup truck in the parking lot of Main Street Liquor in the 200 block of N. Main St.

The officer contacted the man and was talking with him about the texts when the other officers arrived.

“During the course of this conversation, the officers joined the first officer on the passenger side (of the vehicle). A third officer was on the driver’s side. This third officer noticed Mr. Osterhout had a gun in between his legs.”

The officer who saw the gun told the other officers, and they backed up behind the vehicle.

De-escalation conversations were attempted, according to Easter. During that time, Osterhout pointed the gun at his head. Easter said the officers were trying to get him to drop the gun so they could get him help.

Easter said Osterhout asked officers to shoot him, but officers told him they didn’t want to do that.

One of the officers drew his handgun but was not the one engaged in the conversation with Osterhout. The officer who was talking to him did not draw his weapon.

At 5:42 p.m., Haysville police radioed that shots had been fired, and EMS was requested at the scene.

Easter said Osterhout made a “deliberate swing of his arm and pointed the gun directly at one of the officers.”

At that point, Easter said, two officers fired 22 rounds at Osterhout. He was pulled out of the vehicle, and CPR was administered until EMS arrived. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 5:49 p.m.

Two Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office deputies had arrived at the scene prior to the shots being fired and were direct witnesses, Easter said.

Watch the full news conference below:

The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office is continuing its investigation into the incident, as Haysville Police Chief Jeff Whitfield requested.

Anyone who has knowledge or video of the incident is asked to contact investigators at 316-660-5300.

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