Category: kmiz-local-news

Ryan Shiner

MOBERLY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A search was underway on Thursday afternoon in Moberly after someone allegedly stole a Randolph County Sheriff’s Office patrol vehicle, according to a social media post from the Moberly Police Department.

Police wrote that someone who was in custody stole the vehicle. The patrol vehicle was found intact.

Police later wrote that it had arrested the person accused in the theft.

Several law enforcement agencies were seen in the area near Lee Street and Morley Street in Moberly at 4:49 p.m. Officers at the scene did not provide a comment.

The scene started clearing out around 5:30 p.m.

ABC 17 News has reached out to the Randolph County sheriff.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Court documents filed on Thursday say a Sedalia police officer shot a man Wednesday during a chase after the man rammed him truck into the officer’s patrol vehicle.

Justin Strickland, of Sedalia, was charged in Pettis County with first-degree assault, second-degree assault of a special victim, aggravated fleeing, leaving the scene of an accident, first-degree property damage, resisting arrest and armed criminal action.

A warrant was issued and no bond was set. A court date has not been scheduled. Pettis County Sheriff Brad Anders said Strickland has been hospitalized since the incident.

The probable cause statement says officers were called for a potential domestic disturbance around 10 a.m. Wednesday. When the officer – noted in the statement as “Office Page” – arrived, Strickland allegedly made a rude gesture before getting into his truck and trying to drive away.

The statement says Strickland hit the officer with his truck. The officer gave commands to Strickland to stop, but he kept going and the officer allegedly used his baton to break out a window of the truck.

Strickland sped away and Page chased after him in his patrol vehicle, the statement says.

Eventually, Strickland stopped his vehicle, put it in reverse and hit the officer’s patrol vehicle near the intersection of East 16th Street and South Garfield Avenue, the statement says. Page then fired a shot at Strickland, the statement says.

The chase continued, but stopped at the intersection of East 16th Street and South Arlington Ave and aid was given to Strickland, the statement says.

Page was treated at an area hospital and was later released, according to court documents.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol interviewed Strickland afterwards, who allegedly said he “didn’t wanna deal with” police when they arrived and “snapped after that,” court documents say. He allegedly admitted to ramming his truck into the patrol vehicle and said he was shot immediately after, court documents say.

MSHP is investigating the shooting.

ABC 17 News has reached out to the Sedalia Police Department.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 29-year-old Columbia man was charged with two misdemeanors on Thursday after he was accused of exposing himself at the Columbia library on April 29.

Dennis Allen Jr. is charged in Boone County with first-degree sexual misconduct and driving without insurance. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond.

An arraignment was held on Thursday and Allen appeared by video from the jail and pleaded not guilty.

The probable cause statement says a woman reported seeing Allen expose himself at the library on April 29. He was allegedly seen on video leaving while wearing a black hat, grey Bass Pro Shop sweatshirt and black sweat pants, the statement says. Flock cameras were used to find Allen’s vehicle and he was arrested during a traffic stop while wearing the same clothing, court documents allege.

A confined docket hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday, May 14, while a case review is set for 1 p.m. Thursday, May 21.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A popular learning management system used by colleges and universities around the country is currently down.

The University of Missouri in Columbia is among the thousands of schools who are having issues, the university announced in a social media post.

“We are aware that the Canvas online learning management system is down, as it is for universities across the nation. We will work with Canvas to restore access as soon as possible,” the post says.

MU Alert: We are aware that the Canvas online learning management system is down, as it is for universities across the nation. We will work with Canvas to restore access as soon as possible. Updates for the campus community will be posted at: https://t.co/140Ue13PMt.

— MU Alert (@MUalert) May 7, 2026

A message on MU’s IT system status website says, “The Canvas learning system is currently experiencing technical issues and may be unavailable. We will update the situation when more is known. Time to resolution is unknown at this time.”

Canvas is a website schools use that allows students to submit their homework and for instructors to place course materials.

Penn State University issued a press release on Thursday saying that it was experiencing a Canvas outage that was “related to an ongoing security incident affecting Instructure.”

“Out of an abundance of caution, users should avoid interacting with or clicking on any links, messages, or content that may be posted by threat actors or appear suspicious during this event,” Penn State’s statement says. “Penn State will never direct users to unverified third-party sites for Canvas-related communications or remediation activities.”

Instructure’s website says there was a “security incident” on Wednesday and that it is investigating issues on Thursday.

MU had experienced a Canvas outage in October 2025 after issues with AWS nationwide arose.

Check back updates.

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Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia Planning and Zoning Commission talked standards and regulations for possible data centers at Thursday night’s work session.

Commission members will discuss “broader” topic areas that they want to include in a working draft of the regulations and standards that would govern data centers in Columbia.

“This is the process of then deciding if we allow them, how are we going to allow them, where and under what parameters, all of that kind of stuff,” said Commission Chair Sharon Geuea Jones. “Tonight’s really a level setting kind of discussion where we’re all saying, this is what we hope to achieve and what our expectations are.”

The building and inclusion of data centers have been highly contested around the country, including in Mid-Missouri.

Amazon has sought to build a data center in Montgomery County, but faced intense pushback from residents at several public meetings, culminating in a lawsuit aimed at blocking the project. Critics of data centers often cite excessive water usage and increased electricity consumption.

During the April 6 Columbia City Council meeting, the definition of “data center” and its placement within the city’s zoning structure was approved. During this same meeting, a request to have an ordinance prepared establishing a 12-month “administrative delay” on permits for data centers was introduced.

That administrative delay request was stretched from six months to a year before it was introduced at the council meeting. The city believes the lengthened delay period will permit staff and the community to examine standards relating to this topic. The vote to approve it will happen at the May 18th council meeting.

A public comment will follow before city staff craft regulations.

City staff have found that “utilization of water utility” and “utilization of electric utility” are the most important issues to community members in the data center discussion. Those two topics would also require the most collaboration across City departments.

Other topics to be discussed include siting of structures, parking requirements, decommissioning and remediation and lighting and noise requirements.

Staff estimates the public comment will be between 45 and 60 days.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Hermann High School in Gasconade County was evacuated at 10:45 a.m. Thursday after the district received a threat, according to a social media post from the Gasconade County R-1 School District.

The district wrote it had “received a threat that required us to take immediate action to ensure the safety of our students and staff.” Local law enforcement and officers from the Capitol police determined it was safe to return to the building.

The district wrote that it was notified by state agencies earlier in the week that hoax threats have been targeting school and that “district should be on the lookout for them.”

Several schools around Mid-Missouri have seen threats made against them in the past month or so, including the Fayette R-3 School District, Lebanon High School in Laclede County, the Camdenton School District and the University of Missouri.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Highway 63 near Clark was closed for hours Thursday because of a police response, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said Thursday.

The northbound driving lane and both sounthbound lanes had reopened by about 4 p.m., and traffic was moving slowly through the scene.

A Boone County Sheriff’s deputy said the scene was connected to another one near Columbia. A sheriff’s office spokesman said the suspect is dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The suspect allegedly shot two people on Douglas Drive before the chase and fired a shot at a trooper while on the run, Brian Leer of the sheriff’s office says.

“Multiple law enforcement agencies are responding to a police incident on U.S. 63, at Route P / Route B, near Clark (just north of the Boone / Randolph County line. Please avoid the area and use an alternate route,” the patrol wrote in a social media post.

The Patrol later said the chase ended when a trooper used a pit maneuver to stop the suspect’s Ford Bronco. Patrol spokesman Sgt. Kyle Green said the suspect fired at officers after losing control of the Bronco, but no officers fired back.

Check back for updates to this developing story.

🚨U.S. 63 Closed in Randolph County🚨

Multiple law enforcement agencies are responding to a police incident on U.S. 63, at Route P / Route B, near Clark (just north of the Boone / Randolph County line.

Please avoid the area and use an alternate route. pic.twitter.com/XuQnkjHgb2

— MSHP Troop F (@MSHPTrooperF) May 7, 2026

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A suspect in a shooting and chase is dead after suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to a Boone County Sheriff’s Office spokesman.

Columbia Police Department officers were sent to an “incident” northeast of the city Thursday afternoon and asked drivers to avoid the area.

Columbia officers were responding to an incident near the 5100 block of North Douglas Drive, outside the Columbia city limits. Boone County sheriff’s deputies were at the scene, which remained an active investigation at about 2 p.m.

The Boone County Sheriff’s Office later wrote in a social media post that Steven A. Swanson, 32, had shot and killed a 35-year-old man and seriously injured a 65-year-old woman.

Swanson is related to the victims and drove off after the shooting before taking his own life, the sheriff’s office says.

A chase ensued and the suspect shot at trooper and hit the trooper’s car, Leer said. The suspect’s vehicle went into a ditch and the suspect killed themselves with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Leer said.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the trooper used a pit maneuver to stop the suspect’s Ford Bronco. Patrol Troop F spokesman Sgt. Kyle Green said the suspect began firing as his Bronco lost control, but no one returned fire.

The response to the crash led to Highway 63 being shut down in southern Randolph County.

The medical examiner will determine the cause of death of Swanson.

The woman is in serious condition at an area hospital, the Sheriff’s Office post says.

Prior cases

Previous reporting shows Swanson was accused of stabbing his brother in the leg in October 2025.  He pleaded guilty in that case on Dec. 22 to third-degree assault. He was ordered to serve five years of probation and completed a shock program of 120 days with the Department of Corrections.

He also pleaded guilty to second-degree domestic assault in December.  

Check back for updates to this developing story,

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Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Gov. Mike Kehoe is asking for federal assistance to help the state recover from storms that hit in late April, including several Mid-Missouri counties.

Kehoe is asking FEMA to take part in damage assessments of public infrastructure for 11 counties, including Chariton, Howard, Monroe, Randolph and Saline, his office said Thursday in a news release. Assessments for assistance for individuals are being requested in Randolph and Saline counties.

Nearly 200 uninsured homes and businesses were damaged by the storms that rolled through the state from April 23 to April 28.

The storm outbreak dropped twisters in Randolph, Chariton, Howard, Saline and Monroe counties.

Kehoe’s office said in a news release that the assessment request is the first step toward a federal disaster declaration.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Boone County’s prosecutor’s office has dropped charges against a freshman Mizzou linebacker, who allegedly tried to evade police who were pulling him over.

Jaden Jacobi “J.J.” Bush, 18, of Theodore, Alabama, was charged earlier this week with aggravated fleeing — a felony — and misdemeanor reckless driving after he was arrested and booked into jail and posted bond.

A probable cause statement says a Columbia police officer saw a white 2024 Ford Mustang speeding near East Broadway and Old Highway 63 on Monday night. Bush turned west onto East Broadway, and the officer turned on his lights for a traffic stop, but Bush kept driving for 24 seconds, the officer wrote in the statement.

Bush had a 19-year-old passenger in his vehicle when he was stopped at East Broadway and Old Highway 63 south, the statement says.

Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Roger Johnson said charges will be refiled.

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