TOPEKA (AP) — A Florida nonprofit recently awarded a four-year grant for family preservation services in Kansas has been under intense scrutiny in its home state.

Eckerd Connects, which administers foster care in the Tampa Bay area, will serve much of Kansas starting next year. The announcement was made earlier this month by the Kansas Department for Children and Families.

But the Kansas City Star reports that Eckerd has been plagued by problems such as foster children roaming unsupervised while skipping school, young people staying in different homes night after night, even children dying of abuse or neglect.

Eckerd says it already provides some services in Kansas through a partnership with the Department of Corrections.

It says states across the country are facing similar challenges with placing foster care children.

DENVER (AP) — One person was killed and four others were wounded in a shooting on a downtown Denver street Monday, but it was unclear what caused the violence and no one had been arrested, authorities said.

The shooting occurred in a neighborhood of new apartment buildings, restaurants and bars near the Colorado Rockies’ stadium just as the evening rush hour was getting underway.

Police spokesman Doug Schepman said investigators did not know whether more than one shooter was involved and had no descriptions of any suspects.

A witness told The Denver Post he saw a man holding a handgun in both hands fire into a group of indigent people, and someone in the group fired back.

“Oh my God, oh my God,” Hisam Derani said. “I saw him approach the crowd.”

Derani said he was returning home from work when he heard about six gunshots. He said he saw one or two shots fired before he ducked.

He said a gunman got into a car, slammed the door and drove away.

Derani says police interviewed him and later asked him if a man they had detained as a potential suspect was the shooter, but Derani said he was not.

Schepman said investigators did not yet know what led to the shooting.

“It’s too early in the investigation right now to be able to say exactly what happened here and why,” he said. Investigators were interviewing witnesses and looking for video.

The wounded victims were taken to Denver Health medical center. Schepman said they were considered to be in critical condition because they had been shot but their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
Hospital spokesman Simon Crittle said he did not know their conditions.

Authorities released conflicting numbers of the wounded in the first few hours after the shooting, first saying it was four, then three, then four again. Schepman said uncertainty in the immediate aftermath of the shooting caused the varying reports.

Police said witnesses had told officers they saw a potential sixth victim, a woman who was wounded in the leg, but investigators had not been able to confirm that.

TOPEKA (AP) — Room is running out for names on the memorial honoring Kansas law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty, so it will soon be expanded.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Gov. Jeff Colyer and Attorney General Derek Schmidt were among those announcing expansion plans on Monday. The project is expected to cost $500,000, funded with private donations. Organizers have already raised about $425,000.

The memorial is outside the Kansas Statehouse. It includes the names of 281 officers, with room for 39 more. Plans call for adding a second concentric ring of memorial markers outside the existing monument so that additional names can be added in future years.

The memorial was dedicated in 1987 and includes the names of officers who have died in the line of duty since 1866.

WICHITA (AP) — A second man has been sentenced to stealing guns from an undercover Sedgwick County Sheriff’s vehicle.

The Wichita Eagle reports that 37-year-old Justin Winger was sentenced Monday to two years and nine months in prison after he pleaded guilty to failure to report a crime. Winger admitted in his plea that he was with 38-year-old Travis Keller, when Keller broke into an undercover cop car and stole guns.

The guns included a 9-mm handgun, a 12-gauge shotgun and a 5.56-caliber rifle. Keller previously was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison.

Kansas Department of Corrections records show Winger was on parole at the time.

Winger said that Keller sold the guns to Arthur Mannie for $400 and an ounce of marijuana. Mannie is scheduled for trial Jan. 8.