Sedgwick County deputy sheriff killed, suspect also dies

? A Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputy shot Monday morning in an apparent ambush has died of his injuries, and the man suspected of shooting him also has died following a shootout with police, authorities said.

Brian S. Etheridge, 26, was shot twice shortly before noon outside a southeast Wichita home where he was responding to an apparently routine call about a larceny, Sheriff Robert Hinshaw said.

The deputy arrived at the home at 11:51 a.m. and reported at 12:01 p.m. that he had been shot.

A massive manhunt went on all afternoon and led to the evacuation of a square-mile area adjacent to McConnell Air Force Base. Local, state and federal law enforcement officers responded to the scene.

Etheridge underwent surgery and initially had been expected to survive, but he died at 4:20 p.m. at Wesley Medical Center, Hinshaw said. The slain officer had been with the sheriff’s department for a little more than a year.

No motive is known for the shooting, Hinshaw said. The call may have been a “subterfuge” and the shooting may “have been a setup,” he said. He did not give further detail.

Officers surrounded a house where they believed the suspect, identified only as a 27-year-old man, was hiding, but he was later found in a nearby field where he exchanged gunfire with the officers. He died at 6:10 p.m.