Olathe Police: Student Shoots Two at at High School
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a male student shot and wounded a school administrator and a school resource officer Friday at a suburban Kansas City high school. The student was also shot when the officer returned fire. Authorities say all three are expected to survive. Olathe police spokesman Sgt. Joe Yeldell said the shooting occurred in the office area of Olathe East High School around 10:30 a.m., but didn't provide details on what prompted the incident. Yeldell says the student is an adult and was taken into custody. No other students were injured. A statement from Overland Park Regional Medical Center says one of the three people wounded is in critical condition. The other two have been discharged.
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Ex-Lawrence Police Officer Charged with On-Duty Rape
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A former Lawrence police officer has been arrested on suspicion of rape and other counts after a woman said he sexually assaulted her while he was on-duty five years ago. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says in a news release that 41-year-old Jonathan Gardner of Tonganoxie was arrested Friday morning at an intersection in Tonganoxie by KBI agents and Kansas Highway Patrol troopers. Gardner is being held in the Leavenworth County Jail on $50,000 bond. Gardner's employment with the Lawrence Police Department recently ended after a woman reported in November that he had raped her on January 1st, 2017. In addition to the rape count, Gardner faces 24 other counts for reportedly conducting illegal and unauthorized searches of police computer records.
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Kansas Supreme Court Refuses to Dismiss Suits Alleging Gerrymandering
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday refused to dismiss three lawsuits that challenge new Republican-drawn congressional redistricting maps. Attorney General Derek Schmidt made the request, arguing that the state court system does not have jurisdiction to decide disputes over redistricting for federal offices. All three of the suits allege that the new maps impermissibly gerrymandered in violation of the Kansas Constitution. Republican lawmakers dismissed allegations of gerrymandering.
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Police Arrest Wichita Man Suspected in 2021 Shooting that Wounded Toddler
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Police have arrested a Wichita man suspected of firing more than 80 bullets at a house in Topeka last year, wounding a 1-year-old boy. Television station KSNT reports that 24-year-old Tray Robinson was arrested Thursday on warrants in the case after police in Wichita received a tip that he was in the city. Police said Robinson was found at a home by officers and was armed with a handgun. Police said he was arrested without incident. Following the arrest, officers found several handguns, parts and loaded extended magazines. Shawnee County prosecutors have charged Robinson with criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling and aggravated battery resulting in great bodily harm. He's being held in the Sedgwick County Jail on bonds of more than $521,000.
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First Female Named Deputy Commander of 'Big Red One'
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - For the first time in its history, "The Big Red One" has a female deputy commander. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the U.S. Army announced this week the appointment of Brigadier General Niave Knell to Fort Riley's First Infantry Division. Knell's previous assignment was commandant of the U.S. Army Military Police School at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
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Kansas GOP Moving to End Grace Period for Mail-in Ballots
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican lawmakers are moving ahead with trying to end a three-day grace period for Kansas voters to mail in their ballots A GOP-dominated state Senate committee advanced a measure Thursday that one voting-rights activist called “madness.” It would require all mail-in ballots to arrive by 7 p.m. on Election Day, limit the use of ballot drop boxes and give people three fewer days before an election to register to vote. The measure goes next to the full Senate. Supporters say they're trying to make elections more secure, but voting-rights advocates say the changes would make it harder to vote. GOP state legislators nationwide are tightening election laws.
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Topeka Man Sentenced in Death of Ex-Girlfriend
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka man has been sentenced to 48 years and nine months in prison for killing his ex-girlfriend. Jeremy Lardner was sentenced Thursday for the 2019 death of 36-year-old Brandi Prchal, an officer for the Shawnee County Department of Corrections. Her body was found in Lardner's gas-filled home on November 1, 2019. Authorities said she suffered blunt-force trauma and was dead at the scene. Lardner was found unconscious in the home and was charged after he was released from the hospital. Lardner pleaded guilty in January to second-degree murder, aggravated robbery and kidnapping.
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Pipe Bombs, Tracker Found at Scene of Lenexa Murder-Suicide
LENEXA, Kan. (AP) — Investigators found pipe bombs and a GPS tracking device in a car outside a Lenexa home where police say a gunman killed his ex-girlfriend and a man she was dating, then himself. Television station WDAF reports that investigators also found a so-called ghost gun and other weapons inside the home where 22-year-old Sara Beck and 20-year-old John Williamson were killed Sunday. Police say the gunman was 37-year-old Dustin Johnson, of Belton, Missouri, who also killed himself. Court documents say Johnson was wearing a tactical vest when his body was found and that police found an assault rifle near him that had been constructed from various parts. Lenexa police said they believe Johnson was using the tracking device to keep tabs on his ex-girlfriend.