A 26-year-old black male was arrested Wednesday evening in connection with the assault of a woman at Fairmount Park last Friday night. The park is one block south of the Wichita State campus.

The arrest was made around 7:30 p.m. in the 2700 block of North Battin, according to the Wichita Police Department’s arrest bookings from Thursday. That’s in the neighborhood just south of the Hughes Metropolitan Complex at 29th and Oliver Streets.

The suspect’s name has been released by other media outlets, but the suspect has not been formally charged yet, according to police. It is the Sunflower’s decision to not release the name of a suspect until they have been charged.

Police were “able to link the suspect through evidence which was obtained by forensic nurses at Via Christi St. Francis,” Interim Police Chief Nelson Mosley said in a media briefing Thursday.

The 36-year-old victim was still in critical condition at St. Francis hospital Thursday, Mosley said.

Mosley said the victim and suspect had a “random encounter” at the park, and the assault occurred a short time after that encounter, around 11:20 p.m. Friday. At this time, WPD Capt. Troy Livingston said it appears the two did not know each other, but that investigators have only spoken with the victim once, due to the extent of her injuries.

Mosley called the attack a “tragic and horrendous incident.”

The suspect was booked into Sedgwick County jail late last night on rape and attempted first-degree murder charges, Mosley said.

The Wichita Police Department, Fire Department, Sedgwick County Forensic Science Center — which processed the evidence — and the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office are still investigating the incident, Mosley said.

“Just because you make an arrest, doesn’t mean the work is over,” Livingston said in a phone interview.

A couple hours after the announcement, Wichita State issued a statement about the arrest to its students, faculty and staff via an email blast. The suspect “has never been a student or employee at WSU,” according to the statement.

“The Wichita State University community is encouraged that the arrest announced today may represent the first step toward a resolution of the tragic crime discovered at Fairmount Park last weekend,” the statement reads.

Although the attack did not happen on university property, and Wichita State was not involved in further investigations, WSU hosted a campus safety forum Tuesday to answer questions from students, faculty, staff, parents and Fairmount residents.

University police and Wichita Police officials — including Livingston — attended the discussion.  

“I want to express my appreciation for the students and faculty and neighbors who showed up there,” Livingston said in a phone interview Thursday. “I’m a graduate of Wichita State. I care about that university immensely. I was very pleased to see students show up and ask such good questions.

“I was really impressed with the maturity of the students.”