University of Missouri, Columbia police working together to increase downtown safety

KMIZ on April 17, 2025

Erika McGuire

The University of Missouri says it’s continuing to make safety a top priority for people on and around campus.

UM System President Mun Choi said during a news conference Thursday after a meeting of the board of curators that leaders at the University of Missouri and the Columbia Police Department are working to increase patrols downtown after a violent weekend that saw five people shot.

Choi said criminals need to know that Columbia isn’t a place for gunplay.

Mayor Barbara Buffalo said she called a meeting with CPD and MU to figure out ways to work together.

Choi said the University of Missouri is a safe campus, and safety is a high priority for everyone. He noted there have been two incidents involving guns near campus so far this year and stressed the importance of surveillance cameras to hold people accountable.

“I believe that the actions that we have taken as a university, as well as the city, have helped in reducing the number of incidents that occur,” Choi said.

MU sent out alerts over the weekend of the shootings and the initial one had an error and did not have the location. Choi said the university is re-evaluating how it alerts the campus and making some changes.

CPD Assistant Chief Mark Fitzgerald said the department uses overtime to staff extra officers downtown, and some of those officers were among the first to respond to a shooting downtown on March 30.

“We will be continuing this downtown overtime detail going forward into the foreseeable future,” Fitzgerald wrote in response to emailed questions.

Lane of I-70 in Callaway County to close Monday

KMIZ on April 17, 2025

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The westbound driving lane of Interstate 70 at the Millersburg exit will close on Monday, according to a Thursday press release from the Missouri Department of Transportation.

The closured will last from 5 a.m.-noon on Monday near mile marker 138, the release says. Crews will be making pavement repairs. All work is weather-permitting.

The release says the closure is a part of the Improve I-70 Project, which aims to make Interstate 70 a three-lane highway across the entire state.

No injuries reported after gas leak occurs on Business Loop 70

KMIZ on April 17, 2025

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

No injuries were reported after an outdoor gas leak was reported at 11:46 a.m. Thursday in the 1300 block of East Business Loop, according to a press release from the Columbia Fire Department.

Crews arrived within five minutes and found an 8-inch main gas line hit during construction, the release says. The gas was reported in a nearby business, the release says.

The name of the business was not provided, but CFD spokeswoman Katherine Rodriguez told ABC 17 News in an email that the business was temporarily evacuated.

The building was ventilated to remove the gas, the release says. Crews cleared the scene at 2:03 p.m.

Death penalty no longer on the table for Jefferson City man charged with first-degree murder

KMIZ on April 17, 2025

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The death penalty is no longer an option in the case of a Jefferson City man accused of stabbing the mother of his child to death.

Sergio Sayles was charged in 2023 with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, tampering with evidence, misdemeanor second-degree stalking and misdemeanor second-degree harassment. The venue for the trial was moved to Pulaski County in September 2024.

Court filings say the case will be moved back to Cole County and Sayles will be brought back to the Cole County Jail. A bench trial is set for 9 a.m. Monday, Nov. 3.

Prosecutors originally sought after the death penalty in the case, but Sayles on Thursday waived his right to a jury trial in exchange for the state to drop its pursuit of the death penalty.

Sayles is accused of killing Jasmine King. Police found King dead from stab wounds to her head, face, neck, torso and back in her home in the 300 block of West Ashley Street in April 2023, according to a probable cause statement.

Man accused of firing gun in parking lot during ‘underground racing event’ faces more felony charges

KMIZ on April 17, 2025

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man who was charged earlier this week after he allegedly fired a gun in a parking lot has been charged in another case.

Jadon Gooldy, 20, was charged on Monday with first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon, two counts of armed criminal action and one count of misdemeanor fourth-degree assault. He is now additionally charged in a separate case with unlawful use of a weapon, armed criminal action and misdemeanor fourth-degree assault.

He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. A court date for the new charges has not been announced, while his first case has hearings scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday and 9 a.m. Thursday, May 15.

In his new case, Gooldy is accused of pulling out a gun during a road rage incident on April 11, according to the probable cause statement. The victim in the case allegedly told police that they accidentally cut off Gooldy in traffic, the statement says. Gooldy started “brake checking” the victim, though court documents do not say how or when Gooldy’s vehicle got in front of the victim’s.

The victim allegedly told Gooldy to pull over in a parking lot and Gooldy pulled out a gun and pointed it at the victim when they both stopped, the statement says. The victim was able to identify Gooldy from his mugshot on the 0700 report, court documents say.

Gooldy was accused of firing a gun near someone’s head on Saturday during an underground racing event, court documents in previous reporting say. Shrapnel from the bullet allegedly ricocheted and hit another person in the leg.

Witnesses said in court documents that Gooldy was angry after a woman used a racial slur.

Buffaloe win in mayor’s race powered by victories in precincts around Columbia

KMIZ on April 17, 2025

Lucas Geisler

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Mayor Barbara Buffaloe won more than three-fourths of Columbia’s voting precincts in April’s election on her way to secure a second term.

Numbers released by the Boone County Clerk show that Buffaloe won 25 of 32 precincts on April 8. The performance is eight precinct groups better than her 2022 performance, flipping areas in north Columbia that went for her opponent in that race.

Buffaloe won another term in the mayor’s office with 14,111 votes. Her next closest opponent, Blair Murphy, got 10,676 votes. The 25,606 votes cast in the election are the most for a mayoral election dating back to 1998.

Comparing the two elections has some limitations. The county clerk’s office changes which precincts are reported together, making one-to-one comparisons difficult for many areas. Just 14 of the 32 precinct groups within the city have the same combination from 2022 to 2025. Precincts in one ward are often joined with precincts in another ward, making it difficult to know the total number of votes cast in a specific ward for a candidate.

Buffaloe picked up about 1,800 votes in precinct groups across the Second and Third wards, sweeping that area in 2025. She had won just two of the nine groups in 2022, losing by a plurality to Randy Minchew in the other seven. Grace Bible Church, a Second Ward polling place, gave Buffaloe one of her strongest results at 836 votes to Murphy’s 609.

April 2025 precinct resultsDownload

Buffaloe’s biggest percentage gains came in the First Ward, posting double-digit increases in those neighborhoods compared to 2022.

Buffaloe once again saw strong support in the Fourth Ward, which helped propel her to an 800 vote victory in 2022. Buffaloe got 1,645 more votes in those precincts than she did in 2022, outpacing Murphy’s 946-vote gain over Minchew’s performance.

The mayor received the most votes in the Fourth Ward precinct group that voted at Broadway Christian Church with 875 votes. Murphy collected his highest total of votes in the Fifth Ward at Woodcrest Chapel, where he voted that day, and which served as a central polling place.

The Fifth Ward has traditionally favored conservative candidates in partisan elections. Murphy won four of the six precinct groups comprised solely of Fifth Ward neighborhoods, netting 1,000 more votes in that area than Minchew did in 2022. Buffaloe, however, picked up a similar number of votes in the Fifth Ward as in 2022.

WATCH: Authorities give update on shootings at Florida State University

KMIZ on April 17, 2025

ABC 17 News Team

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Police say a shooting at Florida State University on Thursday killed two people.

The suspect, the son of a sheriff’s deputy, was arrested and hospitalized. Watch a replay of a news conference in the media player.

Columbia parking tickets can now be paid through PayCoMo system

KMIZ on April 17, 2025

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Parking tickets can now by paid using the City of Columbia’s digital payment system PayCoMo, according to a Thursday press release from the city.

The system has been typically used for residents to pay utility bills.

“We launched PayCoMo to bring the best possible user experience to our residents, prioritizing convenience and accessibility,” City Treasurer Chelsea Miller said in the release. “Adding the new service to PayCoMo makes it as simple as possible for customers to pay their parking tickets in a secure platform that can be accessed quickly and from anywhere.”

Vandalia man accused of making threats, ramming car with pickup truck

KMIZ on April 17, 2025

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo.  (KMIZ)

A Vandalia man has been charged in Audrain County after he allegedly rammed his Ford pickup truck into a Dodge Challenger on Tuesday after he allegedly threatened to kill a woman.

Joseph Dean Fischer was charged on Wednesday with three counts of first-degree assault, one count of armed criminal action, one count of tampering with evidence and one count of first-degree stalking. A warrant was issued and no bond was set. A hearing is scheduled for 8:45 a.m. Friday.

One of the probable cause statements says Fischer intentionally hit a Dodge Challenger with his Ford F-150 and drove away from the scene. A man, woman and child were in the Dodge when it was struck, court documents say. The Ford was found in Pike County without its driver and Fischer was eventually arrested on Wednesday during a traffic stop, the statement says.

Fischer allegedly admitted to taking methamphetamine before ramming into the Dodge, court documents say.

Another probable cause statement says one of the victims received threatening messages and videos from Fischer on the social media application SnapChat before the crash. Fischer allegedly threatened to kill the victim and use his truck to ram into the car, the statement says.

Several messages described in court documents included Fischer stating they wanted to kill the victim, court documents say.

2 Jefferson City youths seriously injured in Laclede County crash

KMIZ on April 17, 2025

Ryan Shiner

Editor’s note: The location of the hospital has been corrected.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Two youths from Jefferson City were seriously injured in a crash on Thursday in Laclede County, according to a crash report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The report states that a 2021 Infiniti Q50 – driven by a 35-year-old Jefferson City woman – was heading southbound on North Highway 5 when it hydroplaned and hit the side of a 2017 Toyota Four Runner – driven by a 36-year-old Lebanon woman – that was heading the opposite direction.

The driver of the Infiniti had minor injuries while two of her passengers – a 16-year-old boy and 11-year-old girl – had serious injuries, the report says. The driver and the girl were wearing seatbelts, the boy was not, the report says. All three people were brought to Lake Regional Hospital in Osage Beach by ambulance, according to the report.

A 3-year-old girl – who was a passenger in the Toyota – had moderate injuries and was also brought to Lake Regional Hospital by ambulance, the report says. The girl was secured in a safety device. The driver of the Toyota had no reported injuries.

Both vehicles were totaled.

MSHP reports do not name those involved in crashes.