photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Junah Sisney leaves the courtroom on Feb. 7, 2025, in Douglas County District Court.

A man accused of shooting at people outside a bar and a library in Baldwin City has been deemed mentally fit for trial after treatment at a state hospital, and his attorney is asking the court to suppress statements he made to law enforcement after his arrest.

Junah Augustus Sisney, 22, of Baldwin City, is charged in Douglas County District Court with one count of attempted capital murder, according to charging documents. He is accused of firing at multiple people outside The Bullpen sports bar in Baldwin City on Dec. 30, 2022, driving around the block and firing at more people near the Baldwin City Library, then returning to the bar and firing at it again, as the Journal-World reported.

On Friday, Judge Stacey Donovan found Sisney mentally competent to stand trial after receiving a report on his condition from Larned State Hospital. This has been the second time that Sisney has had to go to Larned for treatment to have his competency restored.

He was first ordered to go there in August 2023, and his attorney, Nicholas David, said then that the hospital would make Sisney comply with his medication needs to address his untreated mental illness. Sisney returned to Douglas County in January 2024 and was deemed competent, but later was found to be incompetent again and was ordered to return to Larned in June, according to court records.

Sisney’s mental illness is also a factor in another request that David is now making — one to prevent Sisney’s “confession or admission” to police on the day of his arrest from being used at trial.

In his motion to suppress Sisney’s statements, David writes that Sisney suffered from “untreated schizophrenia coupled with severe autism spectrum disorder,” and claims that Sisney was questioned by police on the day of the incident without having been read his Miranda rights.

“While handcuffed in the police vehicle, Mr. Sisney was questioned by police officers without the benefit of a Miranda warning about whether he was alone, whether he was the shooter, his target, his motive for the shooting, and how many bullets he fired,” David wrote.

Sisney was questioned by law enforcement at the Baldwin City police station, as well. As the Journal-World has reported, a video from that interview shows Sisney telling Douglas County Sheriff’s Detective Lance Flachsbarth that he “wanted to kill some people” and that “Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve thought about killing people when they pissed me off.”

David said that this statement should also be suppressed. In the motion, he cited an evaluation by psychologist Gregory Nawalanic, who wrote that Sisney was not capable of premeditation or of understanding that he was waiving his rights before questioning.

“[B]ecause of his mental condition, Mr. Sisney was unable to form the necessary intent to commit murder and he was unable to understand or waive his Miranda rights when questioned by law enforcement,” Nawalanic wrote.

On Friday, Donovan scheduled a hearing on David’s request for Feb. 13.

If Sisney were to be convicted of attempted capital murder, he could face life in prison. He is currently being held at the Douglas County Jail on a $500,000 bond.