Shooting at Walmart started after gel blaster incident

Ruben Contreras’ first appearance on May 15, 2024 (KSN photo)

WICHITA, Kansas (KSNW) — A court document provides new details about the events of the day a teenager was shot and seriously injured in the parking lot of Goddard Walmart last month, saying the incident began when a car filled with teens fired a gel blaster at two other teens.

The shooting that left the 18-year-old injured occurred just before 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 11. When police arrived, they found the victim in a car with a gunshot wound.

The district attorney charged Ruben Contreras with attempted first-degree murder in this case.

Affidavit of Probable Cause

A Sedgwick County Sheriff’s investigator who investigated the case documented it in an affidavit for the court. She wrote that the shooting victim and some of his friends were driving around the Walmart parking lot. Someone in the car allegedly shot two teenagers outside the store with a gel blaster. A gel blaster is a toy gun that fires polymer water beads.

A Walmart employee witnessed the incident and told police he heard someone in the car say, “I’m your lead hitman.”

The detective later learned that “Senior Assassin” is a game “played at Goddard High School in which students shoot other students with water guns.”

The teens who were shot at called Contreras at home. The detective says Contreras arrived at the parking lot and tried to confront the teens, who were armed with gel blasters and were backing out of a parking space.

According to the affidavit, surveillance video shows him running to the driver’s side of the teens’ car and presumably trying to open the door. The car starts moving and then slows down.

The detective said Contreras ran to the driver’s side of the car and apparently pulled a gun from his waistband.

“Contreras has the gun in his right hand and places it in the open window of the driver’s side rear seat,” the affidavit states. “At this point, Contreras fires one shot into the vehicle.”

The car continued driving and crashed into some cargo containers. The detective says the driver stayed in the car and his friends fled.

According to the affidavit, the bullet struck the driver’s kidneys and liver and may have paralyzed him. The driver survived.

The affidavit states that detectives interviewed the victim, the two teenagers who ran away, the two teenagers who were shot with the gel blaster, and other witnesses.

According to police, Contreras remained at the scene. He was carrying a Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol. Goddard police arrested him. He was arraigned on May 15 and is now free on bail. His next court date is set for June 24.