ST. LOUIS (AP) — A 7-year-old St. Louis boy is recovering after suffering a graze wound when a neighbor’s gun accidentally discharged, the bullet going through a ceiling and striking the child in the buttocks.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the incident happened about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday in the city’s Dutchtown neighborhood. Police say the neighbor was apparently drunk while handling a gun that discharged, firing a bullet into the boy’s apartment.

The neighbor was arrested. The child is hospitalized in stable condition.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A former southwest Missouri sheriff is set to be sentenced later this month for embezzlement and promoting a fraudulent investment scheme.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that a federal judge set a Feb. 25 sentencing hearing for Joey Kyle. He resigned as Christian County sheriff on the same day that he entered a plea in the case.

His plea agreement said he submitted phony invoices to the county for things that were never actually purchased. Prosecutors said he also received more than $20,000 to help promote an investment fraud scheme for an individual accused of cheating investors.

Under the plea deal, Kyle agreed to spend a year and one day in prison and pay more than $50,000 in restitution. He’s remained out of prison while waiting for a sentencing hearing.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama hotel clerk abducted at gunpoint says his captors shared glimpses of their life on the run, telling him they hope to make it to Florida to get married and start a new life together.

Police have linked the Missouri couple to crimes in Alabama and Georgia, saying the offenses fit a similar pattern: People are robbed, kidnapped and let go unharmed, usually after a car is stolen. Police identified them as Blake Fitzgerald and Brittany Nicole Harper of Joplin, Missouri.

Kyle Dease is the night clerk at Microtel Inn and Suites in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He tells the news site Al.com that during nearly two hours he was held captive in a stolen car, Fitzgerald told him he had no plans of returning to prison. Dease says he’s afraid that if police corner the couple, they’re “going to go out shooting.”

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A St. Louis day care business is under investigation after a 3-year-old boy was left alone on a bus for several hours.

Tahanica Scott, the child’s mother, says her son, Dallas Scott, was left on the bus from GSL Development Center for seven hours without food or water on Monday. Scott says staff at the center gave no explanation about what happened.

The child’s grandmother called police, who contacted the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The agency is investigating. The child was taken to an urgent care center for evaluation, and was found to be OK.

GSL declined comment.

The same center has been investigated for three previous incidents involving children left unattended.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A consultant for airlines that use the Kansas City airport says a plan to renovate the airport is unacceptable.  Lou Salomon, chief operating officer of AvAirPros, said Tuesday a plan submitted by Crawford Architects did not address the airport’s future needs for such things as gates, concessions and room for larger aircraft.

City and aviation officials have been discussing for more than four years a plan to demolish the airport and replace it with a single terminal. Some citizens want to keep the current three-terminal design.

Crawford suggested expanding Terminal A and doing similar work on Terminal B in the future.

Salomon told the Kansas City Council’s airport committee the plan would cost about $984 million, not the $672 million estimated by Crawford.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s economic development director has signed a $750 million export agreement with the country of Colombia.

Gov. Jay Nixon on Tuesday announced the agreement, which was signed by Economic Development Director Mike Downing and two business and industry leaders from Colombia.

Under the deal, Missouri and Colombia agree to trade a combined $750 million worth of goods in the next five years.

Nixon, Downing and other Missouri officials on the South America trip will visit Peru on Wednesday and return home Friday.

The nonprofit economic development Hawthorn Foundation is paying travel expenses for Nixon and his wife, Georganne Nixon. It’s the governor’s first trade mission of the year.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved more than $6 million in grants to help nearly 1,000 Missourians whose homes were damaged by the winter flood.

FEMA said Tuesday that the disaster grants will help pay for home repairs, temporary rental assistance and other needs stemming from the flooding in eastern and southern Missouri that followed three days of heavy rain in December.

The worst of the flooding was along the Meramec River in suburban St. Louis and the Mississippi River from the St. Louis area to the south.

Residents in 33 counties suffered damage. They can still register with FEMA by going to the website disasterassistance.gov, or calling 800-621-3362.

FEMA has also opened disaster recovery centers in Franklin and Jefferson counties, with plans to open additional center.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers have turned their scrutiny of public universities toward mandatory student fees and services.

A House panel heard testimony Tuesday on proposals to prohibit universities from requiring students to buy a meal plan or live in campus dormitories.

Rep. Jason Chipman said his legislation is based off his own college experience, not the recent turmoil at the University of Missouri.

University officials said students can already opt out of those requirements and Chipman’s bills could affect campus infrastructure and contracts designed for certain levels of student participation. They also said dorms encourage more campus involvement and better academic performance.

Chipman said those reasons aren’t good enough to coerce students into taking on more debt, and they shouldn’t have to ask for an exemption to live where they want.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a man suspected of killing an Omaha police dog while holding officers at bay for more than 25 hours has died in custody.

The Douglas County Department of Corrections says in a news release that 59-year-old Mark L’Heureux was taken from the jail to an Omaha hospital Tuesday afternoon.

 

The news release does not say how L’Heureux died. Douglas County Chief Deputy Sheriff Tom Wheeler said Tuesday that his office is investigating, adding, “I don’t know if his death was medical or otherwise.”

L’Heureux was being held on $1.5 million bail on weapons charges and a count related to the dog’s death.

Police say L’Heureux shot the dog, named Kobus, twice on Jan. 22 as officers tried to serve a warrant ordering him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Court documents show a federal raid of a hunting lodge in the Flint Hills capped a months-long investigation that included the use of undercover hunters, GPS tracking of vehicles and camera surveillance.

Federal agents executed the search warrant on Jan. 26 on Eagle Head Outfitters Lodge in Grenola. Court documents filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Kansas show authorities seized cameras, phones, photos, firearms, ledgers, waterfowl and other items.

Its owner, Josh Hedges, did not respond to telephone and email messages seeking comment.

The U.S. attorney’s office said Monday that no charges have been filed.

Prosecutors typically don’t make charging decisions until months after searches.

An affidavit shows agents are investigating allegations that include hunting out of season, killing more game than allowed, and illegally baiting fields with feed.