Month: April 2025

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia Board of Education members filed into their new roles during a reorganization meeting on Monday before its regular meeting.

Suzette Waters and Erica Dickson earned spots on the board in the April 8 election. They both received more votes than Ken Rice, Waters was the Board’s president heading into the election. Waters and Dickson were sworn in during Monday’s reorganization meeting.

The Board chose to make John Lyman as its new president, while Paul Harper will be vice president. Heath McArthur will become the treasurer and Noel McDonald will continue to be the secretary.

Blake Willoughby chose not to run for reelection and gave an outgoing speech on Monday.

The board also approved a 3 to 5% rase for all employees.

Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia is recovering from a chaotic weekend of multiple shootings that left at least five people hurt. These shootings occurred across the city on Maguire Boulevard., East Broadway and at Cosmo Park.

The city last year made efforts to improve officer retention and made the city’s in-house police academy. Funds were also used to build the city’s Flock camera system and NIBEN weapon identification system. CPD will also be rolling out a crime dashboard in the summer that will give real-time updates on crime statistics in the city.

For further preventative measures, the city is asking the public to come forward with concerns and tips on crime and the city founded the Office of Violence Prevention.

Mayor Barbara Buffaloe added that she plans to move city funds to where problem areas occur. Community input and observations will help pinpoint problem areas faster and more accurately.

“So over the weekend, they estimated maybe 500 people were at the park,” Buffaloe said. “So from my knowledge, only four are willing to talk with our police department and so we really need the community to show up, you know, if you want to be anonymous, you can call Crimestoppers and give your tips that way.”

Office of Violence Prevention administrator D’Markus Thomas-Brown agrees that crime has become alarming in the city, but said it is expected with a growing population and constructive solutions and ideas from the community are key for change.

Thomas-Brown has community events like block parties are in the works to give people the opportunity to bridge the gap between city leaders and residents. He also plans to connect with community groups for grant opportunities.

“How do we collaborate and convene a group where we have neighbors and the police talk and we can say, ‘Hey, this is a need.’ And then being able to look at the root cause of that,” he said.

Dimetrious Woods the Co-owner of Essentialz Neighborhood Bodega said that he’s had to scale back his hours from 1:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. due to the risk of violence at night. Woods added that as a business owner, he’s open to customer input for ways to improve safety.

“Columbia is a beautiful place, but after 1 a.m., I would think that would be the cutoff time for civilians and anyone that will want to be safe anywhere,” Woods said. “If we all work together, citizens and business owners alike, whether you’re open late at night or not, it’s things that we can do to make our environment much more safe and pleasant and inviting for our customers.”

To contact the Office of Crime Prevention with tips or your own personal experiences, you can reach Thomas-Brown at D’markus.thomas-brown@como.gov.

Nia Hinson

EDITOR’S NOTE: The suspect’s age has been corrected.

HOLTS SUMMIT, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man who allegedly attempted to hit a deputy at the scene of a deadly shooting on Sunday is facing a misdemeanor assault charge.

Thomas Jones, 71, of Holts Summit, was charged with fourth-degree assault on Monday. Jones is accused of trying to hit a deputy in the face, and failing to listen to deputies’ commands while on scene. He is being held at the Callaway County. A court date has not been set.

Jones was one of three people shot at the Hunter Lane apartments Sunday afternoon in Holts Summit. The Callaway County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting as a homicide.

The probable cause statement says Jones was grazed in the head by a bullet and refused medical treatment, but remained on scene for the investigation. Jones allegedly attempted to make contact with the deceased woman’s boyfriend on scene, despite being told several times by deputies not to, court documents say.

He allegedly told deputies on scene that the person he was trying to speak with had pistol-whipped him. He also allegedly threatened to shoot the person in the head, if they came to his house, the statement says.

Jones allegedly told a deputy to “shut up” and swung his arm across the deputy’s face after the deputy attempted to move him away from the scene, court documents say.

A woman later died in the shooting after being taken to an area hospital. A second person was also shot and taken to a hospital. Deputies were called to the area around 3:30 p.m. after receiving 911 calls with reports of a shooting. The Callaway County Sheriff’s Office says they believe the shooting was sparked by an argument.

The sheriff’s office said Sunday night that a person had been detained for questioning.

“At this point, there is nobody in custody. The Callaway County Sheriff’s Office continues the investigation. This investigation is still ongoing,” an email sent to ABC 17 News Monday afternoon said. “We are still making contact and or recontact with witnesses, looking over digital evidence and wait on forensic evidence.”

Spokeswoman Crystal Kent told ABC 17 News at the scene on Sunday that all individuals involved in the incident have been identified and located. Due to the ongoing investigation, their names are not being released at this time.