Month: September 2026

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Moberly man was charged with a felony and a misdemeanor on Friday after he allegedly admitted to shooting and killing a pit bull in December.

Joshua Kendall was charged with driving while revoked and misdemeanor animal abuse. A criminal summons was issued on Monday and an arraignment is scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 19.  

The probable cause statement says a Randolph County deputy was called on Dec 4 to the 1100 block of County Road 1220 for a report of a dog being shot. The owner of the dog was seen in the area and was upset, so the deputy brought Kendall to his patrol vehicle.

The deputy found the dog with an “obvious gunshot wound in the front of its head, but was still alive enough that it was suffering,” the statement says. The deputy then shot it once.

Kendall alleged told the officer that he was driving in his SUV when the dog allegedly tried to jump in an open window and began barking and snarling at his wife, the statement says. Kendall then decided to get out of his vehicle and shoot the dog because he thought I was going to attack his wife and child, the statement says.

The deputy wrote that he did not see “clear dog prints or markings in the dirt on the vehicle that were consistent with a dog jumping onto the SUV.”

“After listening to Kendall’s account, it appears he placed himself into a position where he was liable to be attacked by the dog. Kendall and his family were safe from the dog while they were inside the vehicle he was driving,” the deputy wrote in the probable cause statement. “Although Kendall said he was concerned about the dog chasing their vehicle up the roadway, it appears he should have stayed inside the vehicle, instead of trying to chase it back to where it’s owner was.

“When Kendall purposely exited his vehicle, he placed himself into a position to be bitten by a dog instead of staying safely in his vehicle, which resulted in him using deadly force to protect himself.”

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia Police Department has confirmed the name of the person who was found dead earlier this month at Stephens Lake Park.

Police confirmed on Tuesday the body of Lomas Johnson was found on Sept. 3. Additional details surrounding his death were not given to media.

Previous reporting shows officers responded to a call of someone being found dead at the northeast portion of the lake.

An ABC 17 News reporter saw several law enforcement officers on the scene and noticed the Columbia Fire Department had a boat on scene before they started to leave at 6:44 p.m.

Johnson’s obituary says he was 33 years old. A visitation for Johnson will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday and Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Dexter, Missouri, with a funeral service to follow.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The University of Missouri is investigating allegations of staff violating federal and state laws against diversity, equity and inclusion practices after a video reportedly showing a professor expressing support for DEI surfaced Monday.

The video, filmed by Accuracy in Media with what appears to be a hidden camera, shows University of Missouri professor and chair of the Department of Sociology Wayne Brekhus speaking with an AIM investigator about DEI on campus. The interview was also allegedly filmed in December of 2025, according to a timestamp in the video. AIM later clarified with ABC 17 News that the date on the video was inaccurate and the interview was conducted in January 2026.

“I think we have a lot of awesome courses. And lots of us do, you know, DEI type of research,” Brekhus says in the video. “Lots of us do DEI types of research and things like that. I do things with identities and inequalities and used to do a lot of LGBTQ research and things like that.”

The conversation then moved to DEI centers on college campuses.

“Usually what places did is, like, they changed the name, or they put them under a different umbrella to make it less visible that it was DEI or things like that,” Brekhus says.

It is unclear when Brekhus was talking about institutions if the University of Missouri was included in making DEI programs less visible.

AIM said the video shows a public employee breaking the law.

“What we see consistently is that these administrators are breaking laws, deceiving laws, ignoring executive orders to push their radically divisive politics no matter what they’re told to do otherwise, and every taxpayer should be outraged,” AIM President Adam Guillette said.

University student group, Mizzou College Democrats said the interaction was overblown.

“Sociology is the study of social behavior and inequality,” Mizzou College Democrats President Thomas Bruns said. “It misunderstands what the point of the sociology department is. Their job is to research those things. So I didn’t see a problem with it.”

Several X users saw the video and pressured MU to take action. In response, the University of Missouri thanked several users for informing them of the video and reported that an investigation was to take place.

“Professor Brekhus’ conduct will be investigated and appropriate actions will be taken. Mizzou voluntarily eliminated all DEI programs and DEI requirements in the curriculum. Mizzou has complied with all federal directives to end DEI research projects,” a post on MU’s X account stated.

The university later shared a statement from Brekhus: “I apologize for my mistake. The video was taken last year as Mizzou was eliminating its DEI programs. I am fully aware that Mizzou no longer has DEI programs and does not conduct DEI research.”

MU posted that “appropriate actions will be taken” after an investigation.

“Mizzou voluntarily eliminated all DEI programs and DEI requirements in the curriculum. Mizzou has complied with all federal directives to end DEI research projects,” MU posted.

State Sen. Stephen Webber (D-Columbia) called the response “pathetic.”

“‘Thanking’ someone who secretly recorded one of your long time employees for the express purpose of humiliating them and hurting your institution is one of the most pathetic examples of leadership I’ve ever seen in my life. Absolutely embarrassing @Mizzou,” Webber wrote.

The Mizzou College Democrats additionally criticized the University for replying to more inflammatory tweets. Including one that said, “They’re going to destroy everything white men have built and in the end beg white men to save them.”

Mizzou College Democrats President Thomas Bruns said he understands the University may have difficulty navigating pressure from the Federal government, but they can also respond in a more responsible manner.

“They need to be more careful about what they’re responding to, because this is ultimately how the university’s perceived and that’s how we as students are perceived,” Bruns said. “Being so much against DEI that you’re going to put off prospective students and you’re going to face a lot of issues.

Also on X, Republican Lt. Gov. Dave Wasinger praised the school for their investigation.

“Glad to see @mizzou is immediately addressing this. Missouri taxpayers expect our public universities to educate, not indoctrinate with DEI programs,” Wasinger wrote.

The University of Missouri faced pressure from Republican lawmakers on DEI practices in 2024 and later cut funding for identity-based organizations.

“There is a track record of very bad PR moves here that is making our university look bad,” Bruns said. “People misunderstand what this is, it benefits women, it benefits rural people, it benefits veterans, we have a veterans center here at the law school that could be classified as DEI.”

AIM has conducted similar investigations at other universities, including the University of Missouri-Kansas City, resulting in the suspension of Kim Johnson, the senior program manager of student support.

“These individuals definitely think that we share their radical ideology and as a result, they consistently feel comfortable bragging to us about how they’re using deception to continue pushing DEI, oftentimes, in violation of state laws,” Guillette said.

Guillette was previously vice president of development for Project Veritas, an American right-wing activist group. AIM says it wants to hold public policy actors accountable through its hidden camera investigative journalism.

The University added in a statement to ABC 17 News that information on the investigation can be found in their statements on X, and they cannot go into detail on the personnel investigation.