MITCHELL COUNTY —The son of a Beloit woman murdered in August of 2003 was arrested Monday on a charge of First-degree Murder.

According to the Mitchell County Communications Center, on Monday, authorities in Johnson County arrested Charles (“Chuck”) Ray Fleming, 46, on a charge of First Degree Murder for the murder of Carol Fleming that occurred on August 16, 2003 in Beloit, Kansas.

Fleming was has been transported to Mitchell County by Beloit Police Chief Dave Elam and Mitchell County Sheriff Tony Perez. The Mitchell County Sheriff’s Department and Beloit Police Department continue to work on this joint investigation.

A First Appearance hearing before the District Magistrate Judge will be scheduled once Fleming is booked and processed in Mitchell County. Police released no additional details

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A man who was fatally shot after wounding three Kansas City police officers during a gunfight had not drawn local law enforcement’s attention before he became a person of interest this month in the death of a college student from India, police said Monday.

Investigators believe 25-year-old Marlin Mack opened fire on officers Sunday with a high-powered semi-automatic rifle during a confrontation that began outside a motel before moving to a nearby home, Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith said.

Smith, who didn’t say where Mack was from, declined to say what preceded the confrontations. But he said one of the injured officers was expected to be released Monday and would need ongoing medical attention. The other two will remain hospitalized but are in stable condition, Smith said.

Mack was wanted for questioning in the slaying of 25-year-old Sharath Koppu, who was fatally shot during an armed robbery on July 6 at a fast-food restaurant. Relatives said Koppu was studying for a master’s degree in computer engineering at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Investigators believe Koppu, who was helping a friend at the restaurant, was the random victim of a robbery, police spokesman Sgt. Jake Becchina said Monday. Video from the restaurant prompted up to 40 tips, which Smith said was vital to finding Mack.

“I can’t thank those people enough for having the courage to call our tips hotline and being willing to reach out to us,” Smith said.

Officers found Mack on Sunday at a motel in eastern Kansas City. Investigators said he fired at officers , hitting two of them. Mack then fled to a nearby home where more gunfire was exchanged. He eventually came out of the house firing and was shot by officers, police said.

A juvenile who fled the scene of the first shooting was taken into custody but isn’t expected to face charges, Becchina said Monday.

Smith said police were not aware of Mack before Koppu’s shooting. Prison officials in Missouri and Kansas have no record of any prior violations, and online court records show no criminal history for Mack.

Koppu was a software engineer who came to the United States from India in January, according to a GoFundMe page set up by his family. His cousin, Raghu Chowdavaram, told WDAF-TV on Monday that Koppu was chasing his dream of earning a graduate degree in computer engineering.

“He was determined to do something very big,” Chowdavaram said.

Yugi Lee, a professor in the Missouri-Kansas City School of Computing and Engineering, said Monday that Koppu was one of the top students in two classes he took from her and a summer course she coordinated. She said he had the second-best overall score in one class and the top mark in the second class, and also showed leadership and innovative thinking. Lee said she intended to contact Koppu’s parents in India to show them what an exceptional student their son had been.

“We are missing him a lot,” Lee said. “He was an excellent student. We are pretty shocked and sad about the situation.”

University Chancellor C. Mauli Agrawal expressed thanks in a statement Sunday to the officers who were wounded while investigating Koppu’s death, saying they “risked their lives to pursue justice.”

Jagdeesh Subramanian, president of the India Association of Kansas City, said the robbery and fatal shooting of Koppu appeared random and unfortunately “could have happened to anybody.”

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas conservative firebrand Kris Kobach, who appears in parades riding a jeep with a replica machine gun mounted on back, failed Monday to land the coveted endorsement from the National Rifle Association in the Republican primary race for governor.

Instead, it went to Gov. Jeff Colyer, who immediately touted his “A” rating from the gun rights group ahead of the state’s Aug. 7 primary

But Kobach pointed to his own “A” rating from the NRA and announced his endorsement by Gun Owners of America, which describes itself as a “no-compromise” gun-rights group.

Gun-rights advocates are a key constituency for Republicans in Kansas, which has loosened gun laws over the past decade so that no state permit is required for adults 21 and older to carry concealed weapons. The Republican candidates’ rhetoric contrasts sharply with Democratic candidates’ embrace of gun-control policies backed by their party’s liberal base, even if they’ve favored gun-rights measures in the past.

“The Second Amendment is the load-bearing wall of the Constitution,” Colyer said in a statement expressing pride at his NRA endorsement. “It must be protected or the whole institution will come crumbling down.”

Kobach has relished critics’ consternation over the jeep he uses in parades with a replica machine gun. The vehicle also is painted with a U.S. flag design.

“The right of law-abiding citizens to protect their families is non-negotiable,” Kobach said in a statement. “I will never back down in defense of those rights.”

David Kopel, an adjunct law professor at Denver University, said Gun Owners of America is more “pure ideologically” and less willing to accept legislative compromises to make incremental progress in broadening gun rights. He said it’s possible for a candidate with a good NRA grade to have a significantly lower grade with the other group.

But, Kopel, also the research director for a free-market think tank, said a candidate endorsed by either group is “probably good on gun issues.”

Colyer is battling to win a full, four-year term after being elevated from lieutenant governor to governor in January, when ex-GOP Gov. Sam Brownback resigned to take an ambassador’s post. Kobach is a serious threat to unseat him in a crowded Republican field.

The governor has been lining up endorsements, including on Monday from conservative Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, one of the nation’s most prominent GOP governors.

Among other things, the NRA letter cited Colyer’s support for granting state permits to carry concealed guns at age 18.

“His brand of effective conservative leadership matches up very well against the challengers and people see that he can get things done,” said Colyer spokesman Kendall Marr.

Kobach has a solid base on the political right after more than a decade of advocating tough policies against illegal immigration and strict voter identification laws. He dismissed the NRA’s endorsement of Colyer as “incumbent protection.”

Kobach’s campaign released its own letter Monday from the NRA’s PAC that confirmed his “A” rating with the group without giving him a formal endorsement. It praised him for helping to draft a 2013 state law declaring that the federal government has no power to regulate guns made, sold and kept only in Kansas.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has endorsed Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer as Colyer faces a crowded Republican primary featuring a serious challenge on his right.

Colyer announced the endorsement Monday. Walker said in a statement that he is backing Colyer in his bid to stay in office because Colyer has shown “real commonsense, conservative leadership.”

Walker is among the nation’s most prominent Republican governors and is seeking a third term this year in Wisconsin. He is a former Republican Governors Association chairman.

Colyer is in a contentious race in the state’s Aug. 7 primary. The field includes conservative firebrand and Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

Kobach has advised President Donald Trump and Walker’s endorsement of Colyer came a day before a planned Kobach fundraiser in Wichita with Donald Trump Jr.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Three former inmates have filed lawsuits alleging that a former food service worker at a Kansas jail sexually and physically abused them and that the worker’s supervisors ignored their complaints.

The civil suits were filed last week in Sedgwick County District Court over the conduct of Timothy Kaneer. He’s currently awaiting trial on eight criminal counts associated with the alleged assaults at the county jail.

The lawsuits say Kaneer supervised the three inmates in the jail’s kitchen while working for the facility’s food service vendor. The suit accuses him of making sexual comments, rubbing up against them and — in at least one case — threatening to have an inmate placed in segregation if he reported it.

Kaneer’s defense attorney says Kaneer denies the allegations.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Two churches in Kansas say they’ll protect immigrants facing deportation even if it means arrest.

Newton’s Shalom Mennonite Church and Moundridge’s First Mennonite Church are two of a growing number of churches nationwide that have joined the sanctuary movement. Those churches have pledged to offer sanctuary to immigrants who live in the U.S. illegally and face the threat of deportation.

Some churches have opposed the sanctuary movement, saying religious spaces have no legal authority to protect immigrants or that it’s immoral to harbor people in the U.S. illegally.

Pastors at Shalom and First Mennonite say they wouldn’t try concealing their housing someone, but understand there could still be consequences.

Both churches will undergo renovations to create spaces for immigrant families to live while they work on their legal cases.

TOPEKA, KAN. – A Kansas man was sentenced to two years in federal prison for a burglary at a gun store, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Darnell Tyree-Peppers, 19, Topeka, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of firearms from a federally licensed gun dealer. In his plea, he admitted that on July 23, 2017, he and another person broke into Integrity Gun and Pawn, 1949 SW Gage.

Surveillance video showed two burglars wearing masks, hooded shirts and gloves smashed the front window of the store. They went straight to a gun case and grabbed eleven handguns before fleeing the scene. The stolen firearms included 9 mm pistols and 40-caliber pistols.

On Aug. 7, 2017, the Nevada Highway Patrol stopped a car in Nevada and seized a Walther .40-caliber pistol that was determined to be one of the stolen guns. Investigators later identified Tyree-Peppers and a juvenile as burglars.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a possible abduction.

Just after 12:30p.m. Monday in the 8800 block of east 37th Street North, witnesses reported an unknown Hispanic or light-skinned Black male firing a round from a handgun as he forced an unknown white female into a Dark blue or black Mercedes, four-door vehicle, according to officer Paul Cruz.

The victim is described as a white female with blond hair and was wearing a white shirt. The suspect is described as 5-foot-10, medium in build.

The Mercedes was last seen heading westbound from 37th and Rock Road. Anyone with information please, call 911 immediately or the Homicide Section at (316) 268-4182.