Release from Kansas Highway Patrol at 12:00am

Tuesday morning, a bank in Chase, Kansas (Rice County) was robbed.

Tuesday evening, a trooper was in Saline County, when he located a vehicle matching the description of the suspect vehicle involved in the armed robbery.

The vehicle would not stop, and the trooper began pursuing it at 6:25 p.m. on K-4 Highway from Ohio, south of the city of Salina.

The vehicle later crashed on Assaria Road, 1-1/2 miles east of Gypsum Valley Road, south of the town of Gypsum.

When the vehicle crashed, gunfire was exchanged between the suspect and the trooper. The suspect fled on foot.

The Kansas Highway Patrol and local agencies searched the area for the suspect.

The Patrol had aircraft, K9 units, the Special Response Team, and ground units all working in the search.

The suspect was subsequently taken into custody without further incident.

The State Trooper, a woman and child were injured in the incident.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation will investigate the shooting, as is routine with an agency-involved shooting.

UPDATE 9:59 PM: Area near Gypsum Valley Rd & Assaria Road to remain blocked off for investigation.

UPDATE 9:26 PM: KHP has suspect in custody

UPDATE 9:23 PM: Report that KHP has located suspect.

UPDATE 9:11 PM: Last hit from K-9 units near Hobbs Creek Rd.

UPDATE 9:09 PM: Authorities allowing those locked down at Southeast of Saline school to leave. Advising they will not be allowed to head south.

UPDATE 9:03 PM: Authorities searching abandoned property near E. Rose Hill Rd and Gypsum Valley Rd.

UPDATE 8:53 PM: Multiple K-9 units searching creek beds in the area.

UPDATE 8:41 PM: Search moving south towards E. Rose Hill Rd. Nearing McPherson County line.

UPDATE 8:37 PM: 30-year-old female that was wounded in shootout and at least 2 children are believed to have been riding in the vehicle with the suspect.

UPDATE 8:26 PM: Aircraft with infrared cameras being brought in to aid search.

UPDATE 8:17 PM: Southeast of Saline school is on lockdown.

UPDATE 8:09 PM: Search moving further south towards Hobbs Creek.

UPDATE 7:56 PM: Suspect possibly inside garage in 8900 block of E. Lapsley Road.

UPDATE 7:44 PM: Law enforcement requesting EMT standby.

UPDATE 7:43 PM: Possible sighting of suspect reported near 8928 Lapsley Road.

UPDATE 7:38 PM: Suspect believed to be man involved in armed robbery of bank in Chase, KS this morning.

UPDATE 7:37 PM: Search expands to Gypsum Valley Road and Kipp Road. Assaria and Gypsum reportedly on lockdown.

UPDATE 7:14 PM: 30-year-old was shot in the leg. 11-year-old believed to have been shot in the face.

UPDATE 7:11 PM: Shouldn’t need to be said, but stay away from the area.

UPDATE 7:09 PM: Suspect is black male wearing dark clothing and sunglasses.

UPDATE 7:03 PM: Helicopter arriving at the scene to transport wounded.

UPDATE 6:58 PM: Dickinson Co., Saline Co., and KHP still searching for suspect.

ORIGINAL 6:43 PM: Shortly after 6:20 pm, KHP and Saline County Sheriff’s deputies became involved in a chase with an armed robbery suspect near S. Holmes Road and Assaria Road. The chase continued to near Gypsum Valley Road and Assaria Road where the suspect left the vehicle and exchanged gunfire with law enforcement.

Two injuries have been reported. One of the injured has been confirmed to be a KHP Trooper.

The suspect, a black male, fled the area on foot about 1 1/2 miles east of that intersection. Air support and K-9 units have been dispatched to the area.

We will update this story as more information is released.

Changes made to the state’s criminal offender registry will allow Kansans to receive email notifications if an offender registers a home, work or school address near them.

Attorney General Derek Schmidt and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation also said Tuesday that the new system will have expanded search capabilities and maps showing offenders’ registered locations.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports people will be able to search by the offender’s name, location, reporting compliance and type of offense. Searchers also can see if a phone number, online identity or email address is associated with a registered offender.

The changes also will allow law enforcement officials to improve information-sharing across jurisdictions within Kansas and with other states.

The improvements are funded through federal grants.

Authorities say a 22-year-old Kansas man has been arrested after a fatal collision that ended a vehicle chase in south-central Nebraska.

A Dawson County news release says Destry Swartz, of Coats, Kan., is charged with vehicular homicide and other crimes. Swartz and a 17-year-old Lexington boy with him were not injured.

Nebraska State Patrol Capt. Jim Parish said Tuesday that the chase began at 11:57 p.m. Monday and ended six minutes later.

Parish says a state trooper had tried to stop a pickup that violated a Lexington traffic signal, but the pickup raced south on U.S. Highway 283. It soon ran a red light and rammed into a westbound Ford pickup, killing its driver, whose name hasn’t been released.

Swartz remains in custody. Online court records don’t list his attorney’s name.

Shawnee police say the death of a 16-year-old boy this summer underscores the dangers of working on computers without being fully trained to do so.

The teen was found dead in his home Aug. 16, and an autopsy indicated the youth was electrocuted after accessing the power supply area of a computer.

KCTV reported Monday that the computer was unplugged at the time, and police believe the boy was stripping an older computer for parts. They say many people don’t understand that computers carry a charge even when they are unplugged and broken.

Police say it’s not a good idea to strip an old computer to build a new one because of the danger it poses to people who don’t know what they’re doing.

Richard D. Greene, the chief judge of the Kansas Court of Appeals, has died. He was 62.

Ron Keefover, spokesman for the Kansas judicial system, said Greene died Sunday at a Cleveland hospital where was being treated for complications from a heart condition.

Greene was appointed to lead the Kansas Court of Appeals in 2010 after serving on the appeals panel since 2003. Gov. Sam Brownback will select his replacement on the 13-member appeals panel from people recommended by a judicial nominating committee.

Greene was born in Hermann, Mo., and earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Missouri-Columbia. His law degree was from Southern Methodist University.

He is survived by his wife, Mary Sue, four daughters and four granddaughters.

Soldiers of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division will hold the first launch of a new unmanned aerial system from Fort Riley’s Marshall Army Airfield.

The flight scheduled for Wednesday is one of the final steps in the process of putting the Gray Eagle drones into service within the division. The aircraft will be flown by the division’s Company F, 1st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade.

A release from the 1st Infantry Division says the unit is the second in the Army to receive the Gray Eagle but it is the first unit to fly it from a home base in the United States.

The Army says the Gray Eagle allows for longer battlefield reconnaissance time. The drone can be controlled by the Army’s Apache helicopter.

State officials will investigate ethics complaints filed against the Kansas attorney general and Johnson County district attorney over their handling of an investigation into a Planned Parenthood clinic.

The anti-abortion group Operation Rescue filed separate complaints in September against Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe. The group alleges the two men, both Republicans, helped engineer the dismissal of criminal charges against a Planned Parenthood clinic in Johnson County.

Operation Rescue announced Monday that the state Office of the Disciplinary Administrator said in a letter in late September the complaints would be investigated.

Operation Rescue has the men undermined criminal cases started by former Attorney General Phill Kline against the late abortion doctor George Tiller and the clinic. The charges were dismissed in August.

By Neil Ochs ~ Great Bend Post

In a small Kansas town with a population of 500 people, a bank was held up Tuesday morning.

The First Bank of Chase reported the robbery at 10:20 a.m. Rice County authorities and the FBI are searching for a man who is described as a 6 foot 5 black man with dreadlocks. Reports say that the man walked into the bank wearing a long coat, showed a weapon, and demanded money. The man was seen leaving the bank in a Green SUV.

We will update this story as more information becomes available.

Updated- 10/8/2:50 pm- Authorities have identified the Harvey County woman who died and two others who were injured in a car-train accident near Walton.

The Harvey County Sheriff’s office says 19-year-old Taylor Sowell of Newton died when the car she was driving collided with a BNSF freight train Saturday about a mile southwest of Walton.

Her 20-year-old husband, Dylan Sowell, and her 17-year-old brother, Kyle Malek of Sedgwick, were taken to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita.

On Monday, the hospital said Dylan Sowell was in fair condition but information was not available on Malek.

The railroad crossing did not have flashing lights or gates.

Original article-

A car-train collision in south-central Kansas has left one person dead and two other people injured.

Emergency crews responded to the accident at the railroad crossing near Walton on Saturday.

KSN-TV reports that the victim was a 19-year-old woman. Her 20-year-old husband and 17-year-old brother were taken to area hospitals.

Their identities haven’t been released.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

Authorities are investigating the death of a 41-year-old woman after receiving a report that she drowned in a Hutchinson hot tub.

Reno County Sheriff Randy Henderson identified the victim Monday as Michelle Price. He said in a news release that authorities found her dead late Sunday morning at a home in eastern Reno County.

Two people were allowing Price to stay in the home. An autopsy is planned.

Machinists at the Bombardier Learjet plant have hit the picket line.

Traffic at the only gate left open for non-striking employees was backed up for more than three miles Monday morning as picketers briefly stopped cars attempting to enter the facility.

Company spokeswoman Peggy Gross said Monday the company is seeking an injunction that would give the company more control over picketers, such as how long they can hold up a car at the gate. She says the company plans to continue production, delivery and servicing of aircraft during the strike.

Machinists’ spokesman Tony Larkin says the union is ready to negotiate anytime. He says workers recognize the aircraft market has slowed down, but adds all the burden cannot be placed on workers without sacrifices by those at the top.

Kansas regulators are considering whether they need new rules for providers of promotional tours to three state-owned casinos.

The state Racing and Gaming Commission has scheduled a hearing Friday on the issue. The commission regulates the companies that operate casinos for the Kansas Lottery in Dodge City, Mulvane and Kansas City, Kan.

The commission also licenses companies that provide casino junkets financed in part or entirely by the casino managers.

Commission spokesman Bill Miskell says the agency wants to make sure that the trips are safe and their providers operate honestly. Miskell says the commission is soliciting comments about the current licensing process and whether changes are needed.