At least seven drank from contaminated water cooler, Kansas police records reveal

A contaminated water cooler at a rivalry baseball game between two Christian colleges in Kansas has led to both schools filing police reports, according to documents The Eagle obtained through a records request.

It appears at least seven people drank the water, which Kansas Wesleyan University baseball team accused Bethany College of spiking with paint thinner during a double-header Sunday. Six of the seven victims in the report have Kansas Wesleyan as their employer or school. The seventh doesn’t list the employer or school.

Lindsborg Police Department administrative assistant Julia Duell said the people who drank the water are students and one staff member. All are men; three are 22, two are 20, one is 23 and one is 31, according to the reports.

All of them are either the victim of criminal threat involving contaminated “food/water sources” or of battery from someone causing bodily harm, according to the police reports.

Bethany College also filed a police report for criminal damage to property because of what was done to the cooler.

“We don’t know who did that,” Duell said. “They can’t assume at this point in time that it was Bethany or KW students. That’s being investigated, who actually did that … those are not usable now.”

Police chief Michael Davis said it’s common that the home team, which would have been Bethany, provides water for the away team. But who supplied the water and how it became contaminated are being investigated.

Davis said both schools are cooperating with the investigation.

The police reports were made Monday, following the discovery of the foreign substance during a double-header on Sunday. The teams were supposed to play on Saturday, but the game was postponed, possibly because of the weather.

It’s unclear if the water had been left out since Saturday.

A picture posted by the KWU Barstool account with the allegations of the water cooler tampering was widely circulated on Monday.

Kansas Wesleyan and Bethany are both doing their own investigations as well.

“We are currently conducting a thorough, in-depth review of this situation, with the priority of putting the health and safety of our student-athletes first,” Kansas Wesleyan athletic director Steve Wilson said.

In an email, Bethany athletic director Laura Moreno said: “The matter is under investigation, we have no further comment.”

The schools are both part of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. KCAC commissioner Scott Crawford also told The Eagle that their concern is the health of student-athletes.

“I’ve talked to both schools and we’re just trying to figure out what actually happened,” Crawford said. “We are most concerned about the health and welfare of the student-athletes, the coaches and anyone who might have potentially drank some of that water.”

Bethany College won the first game of the doubleheader, 8-7, before Kansas Wesleyan set a school record for runs scored in a game in a 33-2 victory.

This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 5:34 PM with the headline "At least seven drank from contaminated water cooler, Kansas police records reveal."