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Monday, October 19, 2026

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Wichita · Monday, October 19, 2026

Pickup drives onto Wichita youth soccer fields, killing two

Saturday, Oct. 17

The File desk · Oct. 19, 2026, 7:15 a.m. ET

Status

Confirmed from the Wichita police release posted Sunday. On Saturday a pickup drove onto soccer fields, two people died, ten were hurt, the driver was released, and no charges have been filed.
  • Confirmed
    Police say a pickup drove onto soccer fields at Stryker Sports Complex on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 3:25 p.m. in Wichita.
  • Confirmed
    Adrian Cole, 6, and Nicholas Schafer, 35, both of McPherson, Kansas, were killed, and they were not related. Ten people were hurt.
  • Confirmed
    The 34-year-old driver was released pending toxicology tests and a mechanical check of the truck, and no charges have been filed.
On Saturday afternoon, a pickup drove off a parking space and onto youth soccer fields at Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, police said, killing Adrian Cole and Nicholas Schafer and hurting ten more people. The driver was released, and no charges have been filed.1
The calls came at 3:25 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, Wichita time (4:25 p.m. Eastern, this desk's conversion). Police said a 34-year-old woman had been parked near the fields, with two of her children in the Chevrolet pickup and another of her children playing on a different field, when the truck drove onto a field and struck people.2
Police said ten people were hurt, none of those injuries was critical, and half of them were children. Another person was taken to a hospital for a medical problem that was not from the crash.3
Investigators interviewed witnesses and then consulted the Sedgwick County district attorney's office. The driver was released while toxicology tests and a mechanical examination of the truck are pending. Police said no charges have been filed, and they are still working out what led to the crash.4
Why it matters (Estimate). Adrian Cole was 6 and Nicholas Schafer was 35, and ten more people were hurt, after a pickup drove off a parking space and onto youth soccer fields. Police have not said whether this was a mechanical failure, a medical problem, or something else, and that answer is what decides whether it is a crime at all. It is an open investigation. No one has been charged, and this story does not treat the release of the driver as a finding.
Chief Joe Sullivan said, "What should have been a day of children playing soccer and families spending time together ended in tragedy."

Notes

  1. 1.Wichita Police Department release, posted on the department's account at 2:22 p.m. ET Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. Case number 26C200415. The crash itself was Saturday. Wichita is on Central time, so 3:25 p.m. there is 4:25 p.m. Eastern. That conversion is ours. The release says "3:25 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026" and does not print the words Central or Eastern. https://x.com/WichitaPolice/status/2111885699850862763
  2. 2.Same release. The dead are "6-year-old Adrian Cole and 35-year-old Nicholas Schafer, both of McPherson, Kansas. The two victims were not related." The address is 2999 N. Greenwich Road.
  3. 3.Same release. The ten people hurt in the crash were five children, ages 5 through 9, and five adults, ages 28 through 68. Injuries were described as noncritical. An additional 61-year-old woman was taken to a hospital for medical complications unrelated to traumatic injuries. Police counted her among eleven people transported, not among the ten hurt in the crash.
  4. 4.Same release. Investigators interviewed more than 30 witnesses, including the two children who were in the pickup, before interviewing the driver. "The 34-year-old driver was subsequently released pending the results of toxicology testing and a mechanical examination of the vehicle. No charges have been filed at this time." Charges are allegations; defendants are presumed innocent.

What is still unknown or disputed

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    Two killed, 10 injured after pickup drives onto soccer fields at Stryker Sports Complex

    Wichita Police Department · October 18, 2026

    At approximately 3:25 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, Sedgwick County 911 received multiple calls reporting that a vehicle had driven onto soccer fields at Stryker Sports Complex, 2999 N. Greenwich Road, striking several people. They have been identified as 6-year-old Adrian Cole and 35-year-old Nicholas Schafer, both of McPherson, Kansas. No charges have been filed at this time.

    https://x.com/WichitaPolice/status/2111885699850862763