Sedgwick County sheriff identifies man shot, killed by Haysville police

Authorities have identified a 68-year-old Haysville man who was shot and killed by police after pointing a gun at an officer.

Bill Osterhout died Tuesday.

Haysville police had been dispatched shortly before 5 p.m. to his home to check on him. His girlfriend had told police he was suicidal and showed them concerning text messages, Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter said. Osterhout was not home when police arrived.

He said police had responded to a call about a verbal argument between Osterhout and his girlfriend Sunday night at the same address.

On Tuesday, two officers stayed with Osterhout’s girlfriend while another officer left to go look for him. That officer found him around 5:31 p.m. sitting inside his truck in the parking lot of a liquor store in the 200 block of North Main.

The officer started talking to Osterhout on the passenger side of his truck. Two other officers arrived, and one joined the first officer on the passenger side of the truck. The other was at the driver side window of the truck, Easter said.

The officer on the driver side noticed Osterhout had a gun between his legs, announced it to the other officers and started backing away.

“They [officers] radioed that the individual [Osterhout] had a gun at 5:38 p.m.,” Easter said.

The two officers on the passenger side of the truck tried to deescalate the situation and talked to Osterhout about putting the gun down. Several times, he pointed it at his head and chin, according to Easter.

“He made more suicidal statements,” Easter said, “and then asked for the officers to shoot him.”

At one point, one of the officers drew his gun while the other kept talking to Osterhout.

They continued talking to Osterhout until he pointed the gun at one of them. “He made a deliberate swing of his arm and pointed the gun directly at one of the officers on the passenger side of the vehicle,” Easter said.

The two officers fired 22 rounds, striking Osterhout, Easter said.

At 5:42 p.m., the officers radioed that shots had been fired and that EMS was needed.

Officers took Osterhout out of the truck and started CPR. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 5:49 p.m.

Police think he may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol, Easter said, “just because of his mannerisms and his speech and those types of things. ... We won’t know that for sure until the autopsy is back.”

Easter, whose agency is leading the investigation, did not know if any Haysville police officers were placed on leave after the shooting.

Anyone who may have seen or shot video of the shooting is encouraged to call sheriff’s office investigators at 316-660-5300. Findings from the investigation will be presented to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.