The Kansas CW | Cowley County Teen Arrested In Shooting, Burglaries
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by Cliff Judy & Megahn Snyder (COWLEY COUNTY, Kan.)
A Cambridge volunteer firefighter and EMT survives being shot twice at her rural home, and the Cowley County Sheriff says a teenage boy is responsible. The Cowley County 15-year-old is in jail after the sheriff says he shot 34-year-old Angela Krepps in the chest and face.
The sheriff says around 4:00 Wednesday morning in a rural area southwest of Cambridge, Krepps heard her dogs barking. She went out the back door and was shot.
The woman's 8-year-old son was also at home and called his father at work. The man came home and took the woman to the hospital in Winfield. Doctors later transported her to a Wichita hospital where she's now in fair condition.
Krepps' best friend and fellow Cambridge EMT, Kelly Hull, says there was only one thing going through her mind when she learned of the shooting.
"The first thing I thought of was, 'Is she alive?' says Hull. "It's your best friend, you kind of go, 'Oh my gosh!' The adrenaline rush was really scary."
Cowley County Sheriff Don Read says trackers called in to look for footprints were especially important to the investigation. Thursday afternoon, red markers were still spread around Krepps' yard to mark where trackers found prints.
Law enforcement eventually found an evidence trail that led them to a 15-year-old boy in the area.
Detectives arrested him and found the gun they believe was used in the shooting. They also found evidence they think is tied to two recent burglaries in the area.
Hull says she learned from Krepps' family members she narrowly avoided death with a step to the side, and one bullet grazed her just above the eye.
"I'm just happy that it turned out the way it did and she turned out okay," says Hull. "I just think of if she hadn't have turned, what would have happened? How much different would things be today?"
Cowley County Attorney Chris Smith expects to charge the teen with four felonies. Smith says he hasn't decided whether he'll file a motion to prosecute the teen as an adult. The boy will appear in a Winfield courtroom for his detention hearing on Friday afternoon at 1:30. He's currently being held in Reno County because Cowley County doesn't have a juvenile detention center.
