WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police say a 26-year-old man is recovering after being shot by an officer responding to an emergency call from the man’s mother.
Police Capt. Brent Allred said the officer fired three shots Sunday night after it appeared the man pointed a gun at the officer. Police later determined an object in the man’s hand was not a gun.
The officer has been working with the department for seven months. He is on paid administrative leave, which is policy after a shooting.
Allred says the man was shot once in the abdomen and was hospitalized with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. He remains hospitalized Monday in stable condition.
The investigation is ongoing.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say an officer has shot and wounded a man in Wichita while responding to a domestic disturbance.
Police on the scene of the officer-involved shooting photo courtesy KWCH
Wichita police Patrol North Capt. Lem Moore says officers responded Sunday night after a 26-year-old man showed up at a relative’s home, where he wasn’t welcome. Moore says the man started to flee, refused to cooperate and “displayed aggressiveness” before he was shot in a field in front of the home.
The man was taken to a hospital night in critical condition. The investigation is ongoing.
OSAGE COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 5:30a.m. Monday in Osage County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1999 Ford Explorer driven by Patricia M. Falconer, 52, Canyon Lake, TX., was northbound on Interstate 35 two miles north of U.S. 75.
The SUV left the roadway and entered the center median. It turned back onto the roadway, crossed both lanes of northbound travel, and entered the south ditch. The driver over-corrected and SUV rolled
Falconer was pronounced dead at the scene. A passenger Cadman, Jeffrey Tyler Cadman, 27, Canyon Lake, TX., was transported to Overland Park Regional Medical Center. Both were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a Kansas man has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit first degree murder in the killing of a confidential drug informant whose body was found by deer hunters.
Steven Meredith -photo KDOC
33-year-old Steven Meredith, of Junction City, entered the plea Friday. His trial had been scheduled to start Monday.
Prosecutors said that Meredith killed 48-year-old Carrie Jones in October 2017 because he believed she would provide information about him in a drug case in which he was later convicted. Her body was found in rural Riley County.
Meredith’s sentencing is set for Sept. 23. Assistant Riley County Attorney Kendra Lewison says the state agreed to seek a lesser sentence of 20 years in prison. Meredith will be allowed to ask for no less than 15 years.
SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on drug charges after a chase involving a bicycle and police vehicle.
Derek Johnson photo Sedgwick County
Just before 12:w30 a.m. Sunday, police in the area of Pawnee and Seneca were looking for a suspect in an aggravated assault – domestic violence case, according to officer Kevin Wheeler. It was reported that the suspect was riding a bicycle.
The officers observed a man later identified as 23-year-old Derek Johnson riding a bicycle east on Pawnee from Seneca, matching the description of the suspect. The officers activated their overhead lights and attempted to stop the man. He refused to stop and fled on the bicycle south onto the side walk on McLean Street and the officers followed as Johnson continued to flee.
He then abruptly stopped on the sidewalk and the patrol vehicle bumped the bicycle and Johnson fell. EMS transported him to an area hospital for minor injuries and he was released prior to being booked into jail on requested charges of flee and elude police, unlawful possession of methamphetamine and an outstanding warrant.
The investigation determined he was not involved in the earlier domestic violence report.
The WPD requested the Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) to investigate the accident to provide transparency and avoid conflicts of interest. An internal review will be done by the WPD, which is standard protocol in accidents involving police vehicles.
SALINA — Rod’s Convenience Stores in Salina have been allowed to reopen.
Zachary Fletcher, public information officer for the Kansas Department of Revenue, told Salina Post Monday morning that Rodney Bradshaw, owner of the stores, entered into an acceptable agreement with KDOR and the stores were allowed to open.
On Thursday, KDOR agents, accompanied by the Saline County Sheriff’s Office, executed tax warrants and closed Rod’s Convenience Stores for nonpayment of Retailers Sales Tax totaling $49,540.23. The warrants were filed in Saline County.
The businesses affected are located at 1717 W. Crawford, 1401 S. Santa Fe, 1339 N. Ninth, 220 W. Magnolia, 1619 W. Magnolia, 2140 W. Crawford, and 680 S. Phillips.
SALINE COUNTY —A rural Saline County man is dead following a farm pond accident overnight.
Just before 2:30 a.m. Monday, deputies were called to the 11000 block of South Niles Road east of Salina for the report of a possible drowning, according to Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan.
Errol Redden, 75, of rural Saline County, had gone out about 9:30 p.m. Sunday to clean a clogged overflow pipe on a pond on his property. When he didn’t return, Redden’s wife called their son to check on him.
Redden’s body was found with his arm sucked into the overflow pipe. It appeared that he was unable to free his arm and drowned, according to Soldan. The suction in the pipe was so strong that firefighters were called in to remove the body.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Monday moved to end asylum protections for most Central American migrants in a major escalation of the president’s battle to tamp down the number of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
According to a new rule published in the Federal Register , asylum seekers who pass through another country first will be ineligible for asylum at the U.S. southern border. The rule, expected to go into effect Tuesday, also applies to children who have crossed the border alone.
Migrants who crossed the Rio Grande near McAllen, TX, surrender to U.S. Border Patrol agents. From here, they will be transported to a processing center.- photo courtesy U.S. Customs and Border Patrol
There are some exceptions: If someone has been trafficked, if the country the migrant passed through did not sign one of the major international treaties that govern how refugees are managed (though most Western countries have signed them) or if an asylum-seeker sought protection in a country but was denied, then a migrant could still apply for U.S. asylum.
But the move by President Donald Trump’s administration was meant to essentially end asylum protections as they now are on the southern border, reversing decades of U.S. policy on how refugees are treated and coming as the government continues to clamp down on migrants and as the treatment of those who made it to the country is heavily criticized as inhumane.
Attorney General William Bar said that the United States is “a generous country but is being completely overwhelmed” by the burdens associated with apprehending and processing hundreds of thousands of migrants at the southern border.
“This rule will decrease forum shopping by economic migrants and those who seek to exploit our asylum system to obtain entry to the United States,” Barr said in a statement.
The policy is almost certain to face a legal challenge. U.S. law allows refugees to request asylum when they arrive at the U.S. regardless of how they did so, but there is an exception for those who have come through a country considered to be “safe.” But the Immigration and Nationality Act, which governs asylum law, is vague on how a country is determined “safe”; it says “pursuant to a bilateral or multilateral agreement.”
Right now, the U.S. has such an agreement, known as a “safe third country,” only with Canada. Under a recent agreement with Mexico, Central American countries were considering a regional compact on the issue, but nothing has been decided. Guatemalan officials were expected in Washington on Monday, but apparently a meeting between Trump and Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales was canceled amid a court challenge in Guatemala over whether the country could agree to a safe third with the U.S.
American Civil Liberties Union attorney Lee Gelernt, who has litigated some of the major challenges to the Trump administration’s immigration policies, said the rule was unlawful.
“The rule, if upheld, would effectively eliminate asylum for those at the southern border,” he said. “But it is patently unlawful.”
The new rule also will apply to the initial asylum screening, known as a “credible fear” interview, at which migrants must prove they have credible fears of returning to their home country. It applies to migrants who are arriving to the U.S., not those who are already in the country.
Trump administration officials say the changes are meant to close the gap between the initial asylum screening that most people pass and the final decision on asylum that most people do not win. But immigrant rights groups, religious leaders and humanitarian groups have said the Republican administration’s policies amount to a cruel and calloused effort to keep immigrants out of the country. Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are poor countries suffering from violence .
The treaties countries must have signed according to the new rule are the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol or the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. But, for example, while Australia, France and Brazil have signed those treaties, so have Afghanistan and Congo, places the U.S. does not consider safe.
Along with the administration’s recent effort to send asylum seekers back over the border , Trump has tried to deny asylum to anyone crossing the border illegally and restrict who can claim asylum, and the attorney general recently tried to keep thousands of asylum seekers detained while their cases play out.
Nearly all of those efforts have been blocked by courts.
Meanwhile, conditions have worsened for migrants who make it over the border seeking better lives. Tens of thousands of Central American migrant families cross the border each month, many claiming asylum. The numbers have increased despite Trump’s derisive rhetoric and hard-line immigration policies. Border facilities have been dangerously cramped and crowded well beyond capacity.The Department of Homeland Security’s watchdog found fetid, filthy conditions for many children. And lawmakers who traveled there recently decried conditions .
Immigration courts are backlogged by more than 800,000 cases, meaning many people won’t have their asylum claims heard for years despite more judges being hired.
People are generally eligible for asylum in the U.S. if they feared return to their home country because they would be persecuted based on race, religion, nationality or membership in a particular social group.
During the budget year for 2009, there were 35,811 asylum claims, and 8,384 were granted. During 2018 budget year, there were 162,060 claims filed, and 13,168 were granted.
TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly appointed three members to the Kansas Water Authority (KWA). The Kansas Water Authority plans for the development, management and use of state water resources by state or local agencies.
Kelly appointed the following members:
David Stroberg (R), Hutchinson, for the central Kansas groundwater management district seat, from names provided per statute K.S.A. 74-2622 by districts #2 and #5.
Chris Ladwig (U), Derby and Spirit Aerosystems, for the industrial water users seat, from names provided per statute K.S.A. 74-2622 by the Kansas Chamber of Commerce.
State Senator Carolyn McGinn (R), Sedgwick, for the environment and conservation seat, replacing Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Secretary Brad Loveless.
The Kansas Water Authority was established in 1981 within and as part of the Kansas Water Office.
The Kansas Water Authority is made up of 24 members. Of these 24 members, 13 are appointed positions. The governor appoints 11 members, including the chair. One member shall be appointed by the President of the Senate, and one member shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Of the members appointed under this provision, the Governor appoints from the following requirements:
One shall be a representative of large municipal water users;
One shall be a representative of small municipal water users;
One shall be a board member of a western Kansas Groundwater Management District;
One shall be a board member of a central Kansas Groundwater Management District;
One shall be a member of the Kansas Association of Conservation Districts;
One shall be a representative of industrial water users;
One shall be a member of the state Association of Watershed Districts;
One shall have a demonstrated background and interest in water use, conservation and environmental issues;
-10. Two shall be representatives of the general public.
JEFFERSON COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 4:30p.m. Sunday in Jefferson County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2016 Jeep Wrangler driven by Rynette Lynn Reiling-Minor, 50, Oskaloosa, was eastbound on U.S. 24. The Jeep rear-ended a 2016 Dodge Dart driven by Mason Douglas Robb, 19, Perry that had stopped to turn left onto Oak Road.
After the collision, the Jeep came across the center line and struck a westbound 2018 Nissan Rogue driven by Walter Antone Zimmerling, 74, Frankfort head-on.
A passenger in the Nissan Theresa Louise Elsinger, 68, Marysville, was pronounced dead at the scene. EMS transported another passenger in the Nissan Charlotte Ann Zimmerling, 69, Frankfort, to KU Medical Center.
Reiling-Minor, Robb, and Walter Zimmerling were transported to the hospital in Topeka.
The KHP did not have information on Elsinger’s seat belt usage. All others were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
COWLEY COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on child sex allegations.
Dakota Gaskill photo Cowley Co.
On May 30, a 20-year-old Arkansas City man told police he had observed a 13-year old girl and a 19-year-old man having sexual intercourse at a residence in Arkansas City, according to a media release from Arkansas City.
Police interviewed Dakota Alan Gaskill and identified him as a suspect in this case on June 28.
Gaskill had been arrested June 24 on suspicion of felony burglary of a non-dwelling, as well as one misdemeanor count each of criminal damage to property and theft, in connection with a June 22 burglary at the Paris Park Pool, located at 600 W. Fifth Ave. He was one of three people involved.
Following an investigation, Arkansas City Police Department has requested charges of rape of a child younger than 14 years old.
Gaskill is accused of one count of rape, two counts of rape of a child younger than 18-years-old and two counts of aggravated criminal sodomy, all of which are felonies.
Gaskill was booked into the Cowley County Jail through Cowley County District Court in Ark City for the burglary. He remained in custody on all charges for both active cases.
A Silver Alert for Sharoll Joy Schoen, 65, McPherson, has been canceled. She has been found and is save, according to a media release from McPherson police.
Authorities released no additional details Sunday evening.
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MCPHERSON COUNTY – The McPherson Police Department requested that the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) issue a statewide Silver Alert for a missing McPherson woman.
The whereabouts of Sharoll Joy Schoen, 65, are unknown, and the public’s assistance is requested to help locate her. Sharoll was last seen on July 11, 2019 at approximately 5:30 p.m. leaving the VFW, 120 S. Taft St, in McPherson, Ks.
Sharoll is 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 150 pounds. Sharoll has grey hair, brown eyes and glasses. She was last seen wearing light blue jeans, bright green shirt, and glasses. Sharoll is prescribed medication, which she is required to take, and she does not have with her. Please see attached photograph.
If located, please contact the McPherson Police Department at (620)245‐1266 or call 911.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Wichita Police Department expects to put Clydesdale horses on patrol for the first time later this summer thanks to two nonprofit civic foundations.
The pair of Clydesdales will replace two horses that soon will be retired. The yet-to-be named Clydesdales from a Goddard farm are in training. The Wichita Eagle reports that they’re scheduled to make their public debut Aug. 7 in the farmers market in the historic Old Town district downtown.
One horse can provide as much crowd control as 15 officers on foot.
Clydesdales are larger and more stable for mounted officers than the quarter horses the department currently uses. They also are calmer and more social.
But the police department didn’t have the $40,000 for two new horses and their saddles and kit, requiring private fundraising.
