Is Old Town getting more violent? Here are what the stats, a victim, police and owners say
It’s been 10 years since Kolby Hopkins was killed and six others shot in an Old Town parking lot.
The 25-year-old was a bystander in the Sept. 22, 2013 shooting.
People who saw the early morning shooting identified a suspect by a nickname. But when police tried to talk with witnesses, they went silent, Wichita police Detective Robert Chisholm said.
Old Town has seen two more mass shootings with multiple victims since then: one in 2021 that killed one person and injured five others at Enigma Club & Lounge and one this summer when nine people were shot at City Nightz. Both clubs are now closed.
All of the mass shootings happened after midnight.
Seven people have been killed in Old Town since Hopkins’ death — all in the past five years.
Three of those deaths were this year, including a double homicide in July that was a major contributing factor to the city and police department’s decision to restrict access to upper levels of the parking garage in Old Town Square.
Many have the perception that Old Town is becoming more violent, but is it?
What the data shows
Police define Old Town as being from Central to Douglas, north to south, and Wabash to St. Francis, east to west, and “all property abutting these boundary streets.” Old Town includes a mix of restaurants, hotels, boutiques and other businesses. There are also around eight bars and clubs in the district, according to the Old Town Association.
Most of the violent crime in Old Town is driven by younger people, police officials say. Many of the incidents happen after the clubs close, when people linger outside clubs and in parking lots.
“Like grandma said, nothing good happens after midnight,” said Charlie Claycomb, a past president and longtime board member of the Old Town Association who has lived in Old Town for nearly two decades.
“To us it’s a safe place to live, but any time you got alcohol and testosterone you end up with problems, it seems like,” he said. “We just have a concentration of bars in Old Town, but it happens all over Wichita. ”
Claycomb said he goes out for dinner and drinks in Old Town but leaves before the night crowd arrives.
Valerie Reimers says she hasn’t seen any violent crime in her 22 years of owning and operating the Lucinda’s boutique in Old Town, with the majority of that time in Old Town Square. She also noted most of the crime happens late at night.
And she thinks Old Town gets a bad rap for things that don’t happen in Old Town.
“It seems like if something happens anywhere near, but not in Old Town, it is referred to as Old Town or ‘near Old Town,’” Reimers said in an email. “That may make folks think that more happens here than it does in reality.”
Police data since 2013 shows aggravated assaults, which include shootings and fights that result in serious injury, hit a high in 2021 and 2022. They more than doubled to 45 in 2021 from 2020, when bars shut down or had restrictions for part of the year because of COVID. That dropped to 41 in 2022 and was at 25 through Sept. 18 of this year.
The annual average between 2013 and 2019 was 26 a year.
Other crimes in Old Town have ebbed and flowed over the years.
Police, in response to what data would be the best indicators of crime in Old Town, provided data that falls under five categories: aggravated assault, homicide, rape, robbery and simple assault. Here is a breakdown of those categories over 10 years, from 2013 to 2022:
Aggravated assault ranged from a high of 45 in 2021 to a low of 14 in 2014. It was 41 last year.
Homicides ranged from a high of two last year to zero multiple other years. It is at three so far this year.
Rape ranged from a high of six in 2016 and 2017 to a low of zero in 2014. It was at one last year.
Robbery had a high of 11 in 2013 and a low of one in 2020. It was six last year.
Simple assault ranged from a high of 106 in 2014 to 74 in 2020. It was 102 last year.
Wichita police Capt. Santiago Hungria, who took over the south police bureau, whose area includes Old Town, in January 2022, said he thinks the numbers this year show a downward trend, partly due to an initiative started earlier this year to bring more officers to downtown.
Hungria said the killings in the parking garage happened during the week and were not tied to any violence from the clubs. It could have happened anywhere, he said.
This spring, the department started using officers from all bureaus to cover the influx of people who go to Old Town on the weekends. This way, he said, all of the resources didn’t come from the south bureau, leaving police in that bureau shorthanded and increasing response times. It helps put more officers in Old Town during the busiest times.
Hungria said the violent crime spike in 2021 and 2022 may have been a result of more people eager to get out after COVID and more events at some of the larger venues nearby drawing patrons to Old Town.
Different performers or certain types of events may also be a factor in the crime, Hungria said.
“It’s hard to pinpoint one thing over another as far as violent crime, but I do believe any time you have a large amount of people in a small area you are going to have a possibility of some crime happening,” he said.
On July 2, a crowd gathered at the now shuttered City Nightz as well-known rapper Mozzy, who had performed nearby, made an appearance at the club. The mass shooting just before 1 a.m. injured seven men, ages 22 to 34, and two women, ages 22 and 24.
Multiple people have been arrested in connection to the shooting. Police said they found four guns.
Police said they had already worked with the bar because of past incidents and recommended the club use a wand as patrons entered. The club said it did use a wand that night; it’s unclear how the guns got in.
Wichita Police Chief Joseph Sullivan, who took over in November, suspended the roughly year old club’s liquor and entertainment license for 30 days. It has not reopened.
“I think the chief has taken a no-nonsense approach,” Hungria said. “When we see it, he is going to back us, and we are going to do everything we can with the current laws we have on the books.”
The Old Town Association has monthly meetings with police. Claycomb said two other clubs that cater to a younger crowd are close to being shut down because of violence. He would not name those clubs.
“Some of them are just out to take people’s money and they don’t care how much you drink or what you do,” Claycomb said.
Hungria agreed some bars that cater to a younger crowd add to the problem.
“The bars that tend to draw the younger crowd … they draw younger and larger crowds and that is a possible driving force,” Hungria said. “You have some clubs that have been down there 30 years, and how much violent crime has come out of Mort’s (Martini and Cigar Bar)? But what’s the crowd? It’s a different crowd.”
Perspective of a victim
Essence Johnson still occasionally goes out to Old Town with friends, but she said she is much more selective about when she goes and how late she will stay.
The 26-year-old was shot four times in the Enigma shooting that police said happened after the suspect was kicked out of the club for fighting. Two bullets grazed her back, one went through her left arm and another is still lodged in her pelvic area.
“It’s something I am going to live with forever,” she said.
She was outside, waiting to go in when the shooting started. She ended up just inside the door on the ground, surrounded by glass with some lodged in her along with the bullet.
“I didn’t cry or anything,” she said. “I was just completely in shock. It just burned.”
Fearing doing more damage, doctors have decided to leave the bullet rather than remove it. Johnson has nerve damage and she’s unable to run.
She was in a wheelchair for a few months after the shooting, but then returned to going out with friends. At first, she would still go out, but only then to one club, and would stay out as late as she did in the past. But then it started to be difficult.
“It (got) kinda hard to start enjoying and not worry, and people watch, and watch at the door, watch out the window,” she said. “It just got too much for me PTSD wise.”
Now she says she leaves before midnight and only goes when it is a special occasion, like a birthday. She said the clubs have gotten more diligent on their searches for weapons, but people are too unpredictable.
“Clubs themselves are doing better (on security). It’s just the people . . . alcohol, people, sometimes it’s just not a good mix. It’s just better safe than sorry. Nowadays if anyone even asked me it’s a hell no.”
She added: “It’s nothing against Old Town. I loved Old Town. I was down there Monday through Monday before I got shot. I was one of those clubs rats. I loved it. It’s just PTSD wise and just” people’s unpredictability.
What other club/bar owners and a manager say
Over the years, owners and managers of Old Town clubs and bars have added security measures and changed how strictly they enforce those — both because of violent crime in Old Town and Wichita as a whole and as a way to make people feel safer when they visit.
Erica Case, co-owner of Emerson Biggins, which houses Rock Island Live, said they now have female security check under wigs after a woman snuck a gun into the club in January and shot three people.
“She knew what she was doing,” Case said. “She was pissed off at her boyfriend.”
As a society, more people are carrying weapons, Case said.
Gun ownership has increased the last few years, according to a Gallup poll. A University of Washington study released in November suggests the number of Americans carrying a gun doubled between 2015 and 2019. Gun sales also spiked nationwide during the pandemic, when suppliers had a hard time keeping up with the demand for bullets.
Case, an owner at the Brickyard and the general manager of the Pumphouse say the perception is that crime is worse in Old Town than it really is.
“This is a tale as old as Old Town has been in existence,” said Pumphouse general manager Daron Adelgren, who has worked at and managed bars and clubs in Wichita and Old Town for 30 years.
The three businesses all scan IDs; Pumphouse and Rock Island Live are on the same system that allow them to track people who have been kicked out of each other’s clubs or others that use the same system. Brickyard and Rock Island Live also wand people; soon Pumphouse will too.
“The most recent crimes are egregious to the point where even if it is a perception issue, I would rather err on the side of caution and if it makes people feel safer coming into Pumphouse to have a safe time, it seems like a positive step,” Adelgren said.
Adelgren said the change comes after asking patrons and getting positive feedback. Over his 16 years at Pumphouse, they’ve gone from about a dozen cameras to 80. They’ve also added lighting around the parking lot and building with plans to add more this year.
He said they “don’t have very many fights” or have problems with weapons but the additions are worth it if it makes people feel safer.
“Any time you have large numbers of predominantly young people gathered in an area … and then add the alcohol consumption … it’s reasonable to expect challenges to come from that mixture,” he said. “But I think that Old Town, it’s just a vibrant area of Wichita … it continues to be a hugely popular attraction despite the isolated instances of crime or the perception of high crime.”
Brickyard owner Brooke Russell, who is also on the Old Town Association board, said she wonders if the perception comes because people in Wichita have a high expectation for safety.
“For a nightlife district, we do well (with safety),” she said. “Can we do better? Yes. That’s something we are always working toward.”
She said Old Town has added cameras and lighting over the years, but reducing crime is always going to be an ongoing talk. Russell said the most serious violent crimes are “pretty few and far between.”
Brickyard has become “more stringent maybe the last three years” on wanding because of gun violence incidents in general but also in Old Town, she said.
As for the jump in Old Town violent crime in 2021 and 2022, Case said she thinks it was because of an influx of people that wanted to get out after pandemic fatigue set in.
“We were so busy. Non-stop busy for like a year,” she said. “Everybody had a solid year of partying hard every Friday and Saturday and every chance that they got.”
Russell said the Old Town Association recommends that bars and club wand and scan IDs, but it’s not required. Case said the city could add an ordinance that would require it, which she would have no problem with.
“No one wants to have a crowd that is unsafe for people,” she said. “I’m always for anything that makes a safer community.”
Other initiatives in progress
Earlier this year, extra lighting was installed in Old Town with $10,000 in COVID dollars contributed by the Old Town Association. Besides that, and the change of adding more officers from other bureaus, police are working on other initiatives to improve safety in Old Town.
Hungria is working to beef up the department’s safe bar training that it offers to businesses. He is adding more features to cover safer practices that will deter violence and weapons inside the clubs. He hopes to be done with that in a few months.
The police department is also looking to hire full-time employees to monitor the camera system in Old Town and across the city, Hungria said.
Currently, those are monitored by volunteers in the Citizen Police Academy, he said. Having full time employees would allow more consistency of personnel, who would then better know what to look for and what cameras do what. For example, some are fixed cameras but others can zoom.
That could all help prevent a crime or ensure a suspect is caught.
Looking for tips in cold case homicide
Meanwhile, the killing of Kolby Hopkins has not led to any arrests.
Police have a suspect in the 2013 mass shooting, based on a nickname witnesses used, detective Chisholm said.
“A known blood gang member who is causing problems, confronting people, calling people out,” Chisholm said. “And then a known crips gang member we believe opens fire into the crowd, probably shooting at that blood who didn’t get it. He was not one of the seven (shot).”
He said video helped them identify people who were there — people who should be able to identify the suspect.
“But they won’t,” he said.
He said they have evidence the suspect was in Old Town that night. When asked if the suspect has committed any other crimes since, he said: “Let’s just say he hasn’t changed his lifestyle.”
The last tip they got, Chisholm said, was a few years ago from a person who said another person told them who the shooter was. But that other person was dead.
Chisholm last talked to Hopkins’ mother a few years ago too. She was still looking for closure.
“Just at least an opportunity for the person who did this to be held out in front of everybody and be shown to be that guy,” Chisholm said. “As far as Kolby’s case, this is one that is very solvable. We just need some of these people to step up.”
“Hopefully someone will see it and think, ‘Hey maybe I should call.’”
Anyone with information about Hopkins’ killing can call detectives at 316-268-4407, the See Something Say Something hotline at 316-519-2282 or Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111. Callers can remain anonymous with Crime Stoppers.
