Preston Atlas Spencer id as fatal victim in Wichita Kansas nightclub shooting that left young father dead & five females injured. No arrests.
A mass shooting at a downtown Wichita, Kansas nightclub in the early hours of Tuesday left one man dead along with five women injured according to reports.
The shooting happened just after 12:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Enigma Club & Lounge, police said in a news release, with arriving officers found one man fatally shot and five women injured. Police later identified the man killed as Preston Atlas Spencer, 34, of Wichita.
Wichita police said earlier Tuesday there were seven victims who were taken to the hospital before downgrading the number of total victims to six. A Tuesday noon press conference identified the wanted gunman as Keshawn Maurice Dawson.
Police believe Preston had been kicked out of the club only to return with a gun and opened fire from the sidewalk through the club’s windows, before fleeing AP reported. Dawson is wanted on two felony warrants in Sedgwick County and is prohibited from possessing a firearm. Police said Dawson used a semi-automatic handgun KWCH reported.
The suspected shooter was reportedly kicked out of the club due to an ‘unknown disturbance,’ Wichita Police Department Capt. Wendell Nicholson said. At some point, he returned and opened fire outside the club, according to police.
‘random act of gun violence’
A regard of the victim’s Facebook page showed Preston Spencer having been newly married as of last November and the father of a five year old boy.
On social media Spencer’s mother, June, expressed her grief over the death of her son.
‘I never imagined I would ever have to post this,’ she wrote on Facebook.
‘My heart is overwhelmed with grief. My oldest child, Preston Atlas Spencer, was shot and killed by a random act of gun violence.’
‘Proud to be his father’
In his final post social media post made on Saturday, Spencer wished his son, Julian, a happy fifth birthday.
‘He has saved me as a person and blessed me as a man. I’ve always wanted to be a father! He gave that to me and with a bang,’ he wrote on Facebook.
‘I have grown tremendously because of him and he will always be my Big mans! Im so proud of him and even prouder to be his father!’
To date wanted man, Keshawn Maurice Dawson, continued to remain at large. He is described as five-foot-nine, black and in his 20s. Police are actively seeking information that could lead to his arrest. Police have not yet determined what caused the altercation which led to the shooting or whether the gunman had intentionally targeted his victims.
