WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office has released new information in the investigation of the deaths of Phillips County Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Gaede and suspect Kolton Griffith. The office has now linked the shooting to a larger explosives investigation.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation asked the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office to lead the independent investigation into the shooting. For the past several days, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office has processed the scene, conducted interviews, and collected evidence. The office also began working on the events that led to the shooting of Deputy Gaede, which they released on Thursday.
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Timeline of events that led to Deputy Brandon Gaede’s death:
At approximately 6:02 p.m. on Friday, June 27, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office says that the Phillips County Sheriff’s Office received its first report of an explosion near 1st and E Streets. The responding deputy, who wasn’t named, was initially unable to locate the source and cleared the area, believing fireworks may have caused the noise.
Around 8:31 p.m., 911 dispatchers received three more calls reporting loud booms in the same area. Deputy Gaede responded and began searching for the source. He contacted Griffith, who lived at 899 1st Street. Griffith denied involvement in the detonations, and Deputy Gaede cleared the call around 8:48 p.m.
However, Deputy Gade remained nearby and began looking into Kansas statutes related to the criminal use of explosives, believing the explosions were not commercial-grade fireworks…