Eleven other people were taken to hospitals after the truck drove through a game at Wichita’s Stryker Sports Complex.
WICHITA, KS — A 6-year-old boy and a 35-year-old man were killed Saturday after a pickup truck drove through a youth soccer game at the Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, authorities said. Eleven other people were taken to hospitals as police began investigating how and why the truck entered the playing area.
Emergency dispatchers began receiving calls about the incident around 3:25 p.m. Oct. 17, Wichita police said. Officers, firefighters and emergency medical crews responded to the complex near 29th Street North and Greenwich Road. The two people who died were pronounced dead at the scene. Police said both were from McPherson, Kansas, and were not related.
Ten people were hospitalized with traumatic injuries ranging from minor to severe, though police said none appeared to be life-threatening. Those injured included two 5-year-olds, two 8-year-olds, a 9-year-old and five adults. Police said another adult was taken to a hospital for a medical issue not caused by traumatic injuries. The hospitalized victims ranged in age from 5 to 68.
Police identified the driver only as a 34-year-old woman from Garden City, Kansas. She remained in custody as investigators worked to determine the circumstances surrounding the crash. Wichita Police Capt. Aaron Moses said the woman had been cooperating with investigators. Authorities had not announced any criminal charges as of Sunday and had not said whether they believed the truck was driven onto the field intentionally.
Two juveniles were inside the truck when it crossed the complex, police said. Moses also said the driver had a child playing soccer at Stryker that day, though the child was not participating on the field where the fatal crash occurred. Police said the woman had a valid driver’s license. Investigators were still examining how the vehicle reached the field and what happened before it struck people attending the game.
Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan said people at the complex began helping injured victims before first responders arrived. He said investigators had established much of what happened during the incident but were still working to understand why it happened. Police asked people who were at the complex to provide video that could help investigators reconstruct the truck’s movements and the events leading up to the crash.
The Stryker Sports Complex became the focus of a large emergency response as police secured the area and medical crews treated victims. Authorities initially described the event as a mass-casualty incident involving a vehicle and said there was no continuing threat to the public after the driver was taken into custody. Police asked people to avoid the area while officers gathered evidence and interviewed witnesses.
The crash also disrupted other events at the complex. Kansas high school girls flag football championship games were being held on an adjacent field, according to local reporting. Those games were suspended after the crash. Officials had not reported that players from those teams were among the victims. Events at the Stryker complex were later canceled as the investigation continued.
Wichita Mayor Lily Wu called the deaths heartbreaking and noted that families had come to the complex for an afternoon of youth sports. Authorities had not publicly released the names of the boy or the man by Sunday morning. Police continued collecting witness information and video as they investigated the truck’s path through the complex and the reason it entered the soccer field.
The driver remained in police custody Sunday, and investigators had not announced a determination on whether the crash was accidental or intentional. Wichita police said additional information would be released as details were confirmed.
Author note: Last updated October 18, 2026.