California murder suspects arrested near WSU campus

Gary Warner, Kansas Highway Patrol, speaks to the media about the apprehension of four murder suspects from California at the Bank of America at 21st and Hillside, across the street from the Wichita State campus. Warner said nobody in the immediate area was ever in any danger. The murders took place in Windsor, Calif., on June 22.

Four suspects wanted for a murder in Windsor, Calif., were apprehended near the Wichita State campus Monday morning.

At approximately 11:21a.m., units from Park City Police, the Wichita Police Department and the Kansas Highway Patrol pulled over the suspects at Bank of America at 21st and Hillside.

The murder occurred on June 22 in California.

Gary Warner of KHP said they got an alert and the suspects’ cell phones were pinged on I-135 and I-70. They immediately sent out troopers to detain the suspects.

“We gathered the information from cellphone companies in California that were tracking their phones. They knew the cellphone numbers of the suspects that were involved,” Warner said.

There was a nationwide APB out on the suspects. Warner said once they got the pings on I-70, their interests sparked.

Warner said the cellphones didn’t have to be in use because of the GPS tracking on the phones the provider could begin to track the phones on their system.

The suspects were headed eastbound before they got their next ping in the newton area.

The vehicle was detained and all four suspects were taken into custody without resistance.

Warner said there is no current information as to why they were in Wichita. He also said law enforcement were not aware of where the suspects were going.

Warner said nobody in the immediate area around the Bank of America was in danger during the arrest.

Contributing: TJ Rigg of the Sunflower.

Update: June 30, 2014, 5:30 p.m.

Despite initial reports, police now have said there were only three people in the car when it was pulled over. Police also now say only one of the men was pinged as being possibly connected to the murder, but was ultimately found as not connected. In addition, police said the other two men were not connected at all to the murder.

Stay with the Sunflower for more information on this story. We will continue to bring updates as we get them.