An Ellinwood man is in custody after reportedly firing gunshots and violating a Protection From Abuse (PFA) order Saturday night, then fleeing to Great Bend.
Ryan Alan Mead, age 26, was booked into the Barton County Detention Center on Sunday on charges of criminal threat, violation of a PFA and unlawful possession of a firearm. He is being held without bond at this time.
Ellinwood Police Chief Chance Bailey reports that at approximately 11 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 5, officers of the Ellinwood Police Department responded to the 500 block of East 2nd Street in reference to a report of threats and a PFA violation. The suspect was identified as Mead, and officers responded to his residence in the 100 block of West B Street.
While officers were responding to Mead’s residence, at 11:30 p.m., multiple gunshots were reported in the same area.
“Upon arrival, officers determined the suspect fired approximately 14 9 mm rounds from a handgun into the ground in the front yard of his residence, then fled the scene at a high rate of speed in a red Ford Explorer prior to the officers’ arrival,” Bailey stated in a news release.
The investigation continued into the early morning hours of Sunday, Jan. 6.
The Great Bend Police Department and Barton County Sheriff’s Office received reports of shots fired at 12:18 a.m. Sunday in the 100 block of SE 1 Ave., rural Great Bend, and at 12:33 a.m. in the 5500 block of Apache Road, Great Bend. According to Bailey, it was later determined by the GBPD that some of the noise reported came from unrelated fireworks, not gunshots.
Mead’s unoccupied vehicle was located around 1:16 a.m., parked at The Center for Counseling and Consultation, 5815 Broadway Ave., Great Bend.
The vehicle was impounded and the search continued through the night and into the morning, as the suspect was moving around from location to location within the same general neighborhood, Bailey said.
GBPD responded to an apartment at 1312 Cherry Place, and sent a K-9 to that address around 11:28 a.m. Sunday, but Bailey said Mead was located in the 5900 block of Eisenhower Court and taken into custody without incident at approximately 12:02 p.m.
Bailey said this case is still under investigation and anyone with information is asked to contact the Ellinwood Police Department by calling 911.
Additional reporting by Veronica Coons, Great Bend Tribune.
