SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement investigating one of several weekend homicides in Wichita have made an arrest after a standoff.
The Sedgwick County Fugitive Warrant Section deputies located the suspect identified according to county booking records as James R. Standefer on Monday afternoon at an apartment complex in the 7100 block of W. Shade Lane in Wichita, according to a social media report from the sheriff's office.
As a precaution, deputies briefly evacuated or sheltered residents in the complex. The SWAT team was called to the complex. After a short standoff, Standefer surrendered peacefully and was taken into custody at 5:40 p.m.
Just before 3 a.m. Sunday, Sedgwick County Emergency Communications received an automated crash detection alert from a mobile device in the area in the 7700 Block of South Broadway near Haysville, according to Sheriff's Department spokesman Branden Stitt.
Haysville Police officers, along with Sedgwick County EMS and Fire District 1, responded and located an SUV that had crashed into a tree.
Inside the vehicle, first responders found 43-year-old Jesse Dean Rau of Haysville suffering from a gunshot wound. He was transported to a local hospital in critical condition, where he later died. A female passenger sustained minor injuries from the crash.
Based on the preliminary investigation, detectives believe at least three individuals were inside the SUV when a disturbance occurred, during which Rau was shot by another occupant.
The SUV then left the roadway and struck a tree. The suspected shooter, believed to be Stadefer ran from the scene. He remains jailed on requested charges of first degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon.