Wichita woman suspected in death of 14-year-old son is wounded by police after hours long standoff

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Police have shot and wounded a Kansas woman who is suspected of fatally shooting her 14-year-old son, authorities said.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation announced Tuesday that the 43-year-old woman is expected to survive. She was shot early Monday after hours of negotiations.

Officers went to an apartment Sunday night after the father of Claude Hodges called to request a welfare check because the teen had not shown up at a designated exchange spot and could not be reached, authorities said.

No one answered the door, police said. But when officers noticed a bullet hole in the apartment’s exterior wall, they obtained a key and went inside. The woman was holding a handgun with a shotgun nearby, so officers quickly left, the KBI said in a news release.

After several hours of negotiations, the woman exited the apartment. Initially she left her handgun on the ground. But the KBI said she picked it up around 1:40 a.m. Monday and began to walk toward the officers while pointing it in their direction.

The KBI said two SWAT officers from the Wichita police department each fired one shot, striking the woman. She was rushed rushed to a hospital, where she underwent surgery and is expected to survive, the KBI said.

Inside the apartment, officers found Hodges dead from a gunshot wound, police and the KBI said.

Police are still investigating the teen’s shooting and had not yet submitted their findings to the prosecutor to make a charging decision. The KBI, meanwhile, is investigating the woman’s shooting.