LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. (AP) — A 19-year-old Missouri man is accused of assaulting workers and terrorizing guests during an attempted robbery at a hotel.

James A.R. Hughes, of Deepwater, is charged with attempted robbery and armed criminal action after the alleged attack Sunday at a Holiday Inn Express in Lee’s Summit.

Police went to the hotel after a caller reported a man in the front lobby was threatening to shoot people.

According to court records, Hughes forced a family who was leaving to return to the hotel and said he was going to shoot them. Hughes allegedly chased and hit hotel employees and threatened to shoot and rape others.

Hughes was arrested at the hotel and is being held on $250,000 bond.

Online court records don’t list an attorney for Hughes.

ULYSSES, Kan. (AP) — A 17-year-old Kansas student will collect diplomas from high school and Harvard University this month.

Braxton Moral received his high school degree from Ulysses High School Sunday. He will graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Harvard on May 30.

Moral’s parents are likely to miss both graduations because his mom, Julie Moral, had kidney transplant surgery at the University of Kansas Medical Center Wednesday after being on a wait list for nearly a year.

The teen majored in government and minored in English through Harvard’s extension program. He took classes online during the school year and on the Harvard campus during summers. Some Harvard classes substituted for high school class credits.

Moral now plans to attend law school but he hasn’t chosen a school.

PULASKI COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 6p.m. Tuesday in Pulaski County.

The Missouri State Patrol reported a 1999 Dodge 2500 driven by Tozh R. Smith, 32, Waynesville, was northbound on Highway U seven miles west of Crocker. The pickup traveled off the road and struck a tree.

A passenger Eric A. Bays, 43, Waynesville, was pronounced dead at the scene. EMS transported passengers Blythe E. Fultz, 19, and Catlin G. Johnson, 23, both of Waynesville, to Lake Regional Hospital. Smith was not injured.

The occupants of the vehicle were not wearing seat belts, according to the MSHP.

HUTCHINSON — Amtrak has once again suspended the Southwest Chief between Hutchinson and Kansas City because of flooding. Bus service between Oklahoma City and Newton has also been suspended.

Eastbound passengers in Hutchinson will be bused to Kansas City with stops along the way. Westbound passengers will board in Hutchinson as normal. Those getting on or off at Newton should be advised again that the through service bus to Wichita and on to Oklahoma City will not run.

Passengers could experience long delays because of flooding and are asked to go to amtrak.com or call 1-800-USD-RAIL.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — The co-founder of a suburban Kansas City school has been found not guilty of aggravated indecent liberties with a child.

49-year-old Dennis Creason was acquitted Tuesday on several counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child.

Creason and his wife, of Bonner Springs, co-founded founded Oaklawn Christian School in Shawnee. He was accused of lewd fondling or touching of children under the age of 14 between 2009 and early 2018.

Oaklawn Christian School closed following Creason’s arrest.

Creason testified during the trial that he never had sexual contact with the children. His attorneys argued the five girls who testified were coached about what to say.

But prosecutors argued the children were afraid of Creason and had no reason to lie.

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BRANSON, Mo. (AP) — Firefighters have contained a fire at a motel on the main strip that runs through the southwest Missouri tourist town of Branson.

The fire started around 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Hall of Fame Motel, which is located across the street from Presley’s County Music Jubilee and the Hollywood Wax Museum. City officials said it took firefighters about an hour to bring the blaze in the 143-room motel under control. There are no reports of injuries.

Police closed off that part of the strip.

HOLTS SUMMIT, Mo. (AP) — A woman has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 2018 death of a 67-year-old central Missouri man.

Amy Steward pleaded guilty on Monday in the death of David Grant, of Holts Summit. She had originally been charged with first-degree murder and delivery of a control substance.

Steward was sentenced to life for second-degree murder, 10 years for armed criminal action and five years for unlawful possession of a firearm.

Court documents indicate Steward called 911 to report Grant’s death in April 2018. She told Callaway County deputies she found him dead from a gunshot wound to the head when she returned home from a friend’s house.

However, police said Steward’s friend didn’t corroborate that story.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — The Latest on severe weather in the central United States (all times local):

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says all the animals are accounted for after a tornado hit a drive-through wild animal park.

Patrol Sgt. Jason Pace says only minor damage was reported Tuesday to buildings at the Wild Animal Safari in Strafford, about 10 miles northeast of Springfield.

Webster County Emergency Management Director Tom Simmons says there were no reports that people or animals were injured. The park boasts on its website of having more than 450 animals.

Simmons also estimated that half a dozen homes were damaged in the county. In neighboring Wright County, a suspected tornado also damaged some homes and a grocery store.

Pace says there also were several water rescues, including one of an 18-year-old woman who was swept off a flooded road near Joplin and stranded overnight.

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WEBSTER COUNTY, Mo. (AP) — The Latest on severe weather in the central United States (all times local):

Authorities say a tornado has hit a drive-through wild animal park in central Missouri and blown a tractor-trailer off a nearby road.

Webster County Emergency Management Director Tom Simmons says the tornado damaged some buildings Tuesday at the Wild Animal Safari near Strafford, about 10 miles northeast of Springfield. He said there were no reports that people or animals were injured.

The phone number to the animal park rang unanswered. The park boasts on its website of having more than 450 animals on 350 acres.

Simmons estimates that half a dozen homes were damaged in the county. He says damage assessments are underway.

The tornado came amid storms that have brought flooding and strong winds to parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas.

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