(Updated) One person dead in Sumner County after car chase and shooting
Update 5:15 p.m. Â Law enforcement officials on Thursday identified the man who was killed in an officer-involved shooting earlier that day south of Wichita.
During a news conference, Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter said that Charles S. Johnston, 25, took a woman hostage and fired at officers late Wednesday night after leading a police chase that spanned four counties in south-central Kansas that ended in Sumner County.
Sumner County Sheriff Darren Chambers said that the investigation continues in both counties and some of the charges may be filed in both Sedgwick and Sumner County.
Sumner Newscow report – According to media reports, one person is dead after an overnight multi-county chase involving several law enforcement agencies.
Sedgwick, Sumner and Cowley County authorities care are currently investigating a deadly officer-involved shooting during a police chase that spanned at least three south-central Kansas counties late Wednesday into Thursday.
Authorities are asking drivers using K-15 to avoid the highway between Oxford and Geuda Springs Road, as it will be closed during the investigation.
A Sedgwick County 911 dispatch supervisor said a call about a police chase came in at 11:40 p.m. Wednesday night.
Lt. Lin Dehning of the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the death of a man. The police chase went through parts of three counties, he said. A second person was in the vehicle that was being chased, he said, but he gave no further details.
 At 8:30 a.m., investigators continued to work the apparent scene of the deadly shooting, which is near a residence just north of K-15 and North Geuda Springs.
The chase ended in a rural area south of Wichita. Sumner County Sheriff Darren Chambers said Wichita police officers and deputies from Sumner and Sedgwick counties returned fire on one suspect after he fled from a vehicle.
Sheriff Jeff Easter told KAKE News it started in Wichita around 11:50 p.m. Wednesday when a Wichita police officer spotted a suspect with an active warrant. The officer tried to pursue the absconder, but the suspect fled.
A special unit was called in to assist. It included a patrol car designed to shoot GPS tracking devices on to vehicles so officers do not have to physically chase a suspect, preventing dangerous chase scenarios.
As soon as that cruiser was close enough to the suspect to fire the GPS tracker, Sheriff Easter says the passenger in the vehicle began firing at officers. No officers were hurt
“So the chase became a little bit more intense at that point,” Sheriff Jeff Easter told KAKE. “It lasted for quite some time.”
The chase eventually came to an end near the Sumner-Cowley County line, northwest of Udall.
Sumner County Sheriff Darren Chambers said when the suspect’s vehicle came to a stop, the suspect got out and fired more shots at authorities. They returned fire, killing the suspect.
There was a woman inside the vehicle as well. Chambers said authorities are talking to her to try to figure out what was going on inside the vehicle during the chase.
“We’re having some speculation on them playing different roles within the vehicle and that’s where we gotta do our interviews downtown and make that determination as to what roles each of them played while they were in this vehicle,” Sheriff Chambers said.
The woman was not hurt. The three agencies working the scene expect to release more information Thursday afternoon after having a chance to run through body cam and dash cam evidence to piece together a timeline of what happened.
