Wichita Police Department Chief Nelson Mosley on Monday issued the following statement regarding an officer-involved shooting that occurred on Saturday night along West Kellogg:

“Good morning. I am Chief Nelson Mosley. Thank you for being here. I am here to address the events from the Saturday evening traffic stop that resulted in an officer using deadly force.

This unfortunate incident affects our entire community. During the traffic stop, a Wichita Police Officer was seriously injured.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the officer and family. We are thankful the officer was not critically injured.

The officer has been released from the hospital. The officer - who has been with the department for more than six years - is on administrative leave as per policy.

We also want to express our condolences to the family of the deceased.

No police involved shooting is routine and our investigation is ongoing.

We are committed to a thorough investigation.

Though more information may be released as it becomes available, preliminarily, we want to give a clear sequence of events which lead to the shooting.

At 10:10 p.m. an officer conducted a traffic stop on a silver colored Toyota Prius in the 6100 block of West Kellogg Dr.

Shortly thereafter the officer had contact with the driver, later identified as Nicholas Garner, 26, W/M from Wichita, KS.

According to witnesses, the officer was speaking with Mr. Garner in the open door of the vehicle. During this contact, Mr. Garner put the vehicle in drive.

Investigators believe that the officer may have tried to stop Mr. Garner from driving away and became lodged in the vehicle, with his legs hanging outside the vehicle.

Mr. Garner sped away from the traffic stop with the officer hanging in the door of the vehicle.

We are still obtaining and reviewing surveillance video, but it is believed the first time around the pumps Mr. Garner struck the patrol vehicle then backed up striking the barrier at the fuel pump.

Mr. Garner made at least two more laps around the parking lot, at a high rate of speed, with the officer still hanging from his vehicle.

Mr. Garner’s vehicle jumped the barrier between the gas pumps and McDonalds striking an occupied vehicle leaving the McDonalds lot, spinning it out.

According to witnesses Mr. Garner’s vehicle exited the McDonalds lot driving eastbound in the westbound lanes of Kellogg drive at a high rate of speed, almost striking three more vehicles and a motorcycle.

When the Prius continued driving at a high rate of speed, Mr. Garner collided with a motorist travelling westbound on Kellogg Drive and the officer fired a duty weapon.

The officer was able to disengage from the Prius, however the officer sustained injuries. The officer was aided by several witnesses, one of whom used the officer’s radio to notify dispatch of what had happened. We are extremely grateful for the assistance of every citizen who helped on scene.

We were challenged by several things that evening. First was the size of the scene. We had to contain a large area of West Kellogg, second was the severe weather that moved in.

We are continuing to ask for the public’s assistance. We are still seeking any video, eyewitness accounts or other pertinent information.

If anyone has more information, please call investigators at 268-4182.

In closing, I want to remind you that officers put their lives on the line each and every day. We are saddened that an officer had to make a life or death decision.

The investigation is ongoing and we appreciate the assistance of the District Attorney’s office and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.”