Officers from the Riley County Police Department responded to reports of gunshots at approximately 12:20 a.m. on Tuesday in the 1400 block of Watson Plaza, according to an RCPD news release.

One female, 20, was shot once in the abdomen and airlifted to Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka. Her condition and identity are unknown at this time. 

An eyewitness who wished to remain anonymous said they called the police after hearing two gunshots around midnight on Tuesday.

“There were two shots, bang, bang, and then this car sped off,” the eyewitness said. “They booked it down College Avenue north towards Kimball. I said, ‘You know, that was two gunshots, and I should probably call the police.’ … Within 15 minutes they [police] were out putting somebody on a gurney across the street at my apartment complex behind us.” 

Ashley Tokoi, RCPD public information officer, said the shooter was likely protecting himself against a robbery. 

“There was another woman involved and then the woman that got shot Tuesday morning,” Tokoi said. “We don’t know the details of what happened outside of the fact that the two women were in the vehicle with him [the shooter] for whatever reason, and then he thought he was going to get robbed … and fired his weapon.” 

Tokoi said the shooter is not a Manhattan resident.

“His home of record is Fayetteville, Florida, and he was born in ‘98,” Tokoi said. “We’re not really calling him a suspect because it appears that he is the victim. As he stated, it sounds like an attempted robbery.”

Avery Haug, freshman in political science, said he was in the area at the time of the shooting. 

“We were sitting on the couch watching TV, and it’s like midnight, 12:20,” Haug said. “All of a sudden we just hear like two really loud screams and everybody like, paused and was staring at each other.”

The identity of the shooter has not been released. RCPD urges anyone with information on the crime to contact Crime Stoppers.