What started as a group of teenage girls egging a house in Bel Aire, Kansas ended with gunfire, bullet holes in a fleeing Jeep, and two women in handcuffs. Police now say the residents who first reported themselves as victims of a drive-by shooting were actually the ones who opened fire.
Bel Aire police were called to the 5300 block of North Lycee Street on August 29 for a reported drive-by shooting, according to the police report cited by KAKE News. Officers arriving at the scene found several spent shell casings in the area, and investigators later determined that approximately five females had arrived at the residence and egged the house before the group left in a white Jeep. Police say several rounds were then discharged toward the group as they drove away, and some of the females in the Jeep were under the age of 18.
Officers initially treated two people at the residence as victims of the reported drive-by shooting and interviewed them accordingly, per the same police report. That changed once investigators obtained a search warrant for the North Lycee Street residence and located the white Jeep, which had bullet holes indicating it had been struck by gunfire. Two adult females from the residence were then detained for questioning, and the case flipped from a shooting-victim inquiry into a criminal investigation of the homeowners themselves.
Charges Pile Up for 21-Year-Old
Police say a person from the egged house shot at the occupants of the Jeep as they fled. Erycia Burns, 21, was booked into the Sedgwick County Jail on August 31 facing preliminary charges of two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of endangerment, criminal discharge of a firearm, criminal damage to property, and interference with law enforcement, according to Wichita News Flash. Bond for Burns was set at $75,000.
A second woman, 19-year-old Semia Arbertha, was arrested on suspicion of interference with law enforcement for allegedly falsely reporting a felony with intent to obstruct officers. Wichita News Flash reports Arbertha was released from custody the day after her arrest, and she did not appear on the Sedgwick County jail website as of Wednesday.
What Kansas Law Says About Shooting at a Fleeing Vehicle
Under Kansas statute K.S.A. 21-5412, aggravated assault committed with a deadly weapon is classified as a severity level 7 person felony, which can carry prison terms of up to 34 months per count under state sentencing guidelines, according to the Martin Law Group, LLC. Separately, K.S.A. 21-6308 mandates presumptive imprisonment for discharging a firearm at an occupied motor vehicle, with a mandatory additional 60-month sentence enhancement if the shooter knew or reasonably should have known people were inside, per the Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes.
The interference with law enforcement charges facing both women stem from K.S.A. 21-5904, which makes falsely reporting information to police with intent to influence or obstruct an investigation a crime that escalates in severity depending on the underlying offense involved, the Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes notes. The Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office files formal charges in district court, and the investigation remains ongoing.
A Rare Level of Violence for a Quiet Suburb
Bel Aire had an estimated population of 9,043 in 2024, according to data compiled by Niche. The North Lycee Street shooting was especially jarring for the neighborhood, where other disturbances have also been reported.
Bel Aire police responded to the reported drive-by shooting described above. A separate Bel Aire-linked case also drew attention just weeks ago, when a Lexington man received 15 years after Bel Aire police assisted in a cross-jurisdictional investigation.
Not the First Time an Egging Has Ended in Gunfire
The Bel Aire case echoes an Oklahoma case involving James Douglas McMillan that Hoodline covered this year. Both cases underscore how an incident involving a firearm can lead to felony charges.
For now, the open questions in Bel Aire concern whether any of the girls involved in the egging will themselves face misdemeanor criminal damage charges, and what formal charges the Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office ultimately files once the full police report and search warrant findings are reviewed.
