Classes begin soon and bus drivers around the area participated in training this week in St. Joseph.

According to Apple Bus Area Regional Manager Kim Green, 120 bus drivers from around the area participated in the back-to-school training Monday and Tuesday at Hillyard Technical Center. 

Linda McDowell with Apple Bus Company said the training covered a variety of everyday and emergency situations. 

“(We) make sure they’re doing their backing right, their back tail swings, we’re doing emergency evacuations, we’re doing the school bus stops,” McDowell said. “It’s to make the drivers aware of the oncoming year, just a little bit of what we’re working with on an everyday basis.” 

McDowell said the training drills cover situations such as emergency evacuations.

“We show them emergency exits, we show them exits on top, we show them the radio, how to use it, all the emergency windows, just show them how to get on and off so we know how to do it so we can tell our students,” McDowell said.

McDowell said classroom training over the two days included new driver orientation, refresher courses, information on insurance and more.

According to Green, drivers must complete eight hours of safety training per year to keep their Commercial Driver’s License (CDL).

Classes for the St. Joseph School District begin August 16th.

Police are investigating a shooting early Sunday morning.

According to Sgt. Steve McClintick with the St. Joseph Police Department, the shooting in the 200 block of Michigan Avenue was reported shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday. McClintick said the shooting stemmed from a dispute over property. A man in his 30s was shot in the arm and upper thigh. He was transported to the hospital with what McClintick said appeared to be non-life threatening injuries.

The shooting suspect fled the scene but McClintick said three people at the scene when officers arrived were taken into custody on charges unrelated to the shooting.

The St. Joseph YWCA is accepting donations of school supplies for its Back to School Fair in August. 

Carmen Lankford is the Children’s Program Coordinator at the St. Joseph YWCA. Lankford said the Back to School Fair Tuesday, August 8th, provides back to school supplies for children in their transitional housing program and domestic violence shelter. 

“A lot of our people that come in miss the other back to school fairs because of the time frame that they’ve come in,” Lankford said. “Also we try to provide our shelter kids with things that a lot of the other kids are getting.” 

Lankford said they are accepting donations of clothes, shoes, backpacks, books, pencils and any other kinds of school supplies. They hope to receive enough donations to provide for approximately 50 students. 

Donations will be collected until August 7th at the YWCA located at 304 North 8th Street in St. Joseph. For more information, call (816) 232-4481.

(Update 10:49 a.m.) – The St. Joseph Police Department said one of three victims has died after an overnight shooting at Brittany Village Apartments.

Capt. Jeff Wilson said officers responded shortly before 3 a.m. Thursday in response to a call of shots fired at the complex located at 1605 N. 36th St. He said when officers arrived on scene they located three victims with gunshot wounds and notified EMS immediately.

“At this time there is a language barrier that is creating a communication issue in the investigation,” Wilson said. “Detectives are in the process of obtaining interpreter assistance.”

The victims were around the ages of 42, 37 and 31. After being transported to the hospital for treatment of serious injuries one of the victims has been confirmed deceased.

Wilson said at this point in time the investigation is at its early stages to no further information is currently available for release.

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(5:30 a.m.) – The St. Joseph Police Department is investigating an overnight shooting that seriously injured three people.

According to Sgt. Brad Kerns, reports of shots fired at Brittany Village Apartments on 36th Street came in around 3 a.m. Thursday. Kerns confirmed there were three victims who were transported to Mosaic Life Care with serious injuries.

Kerns said as of 5 a.m., they had no suspect information.

A 52-year-old St. Joseph man died in an attic after attempting to hide from deputies.

According to Buchanan County Sheriff Bill Puett, at 4:20 p.m. Thursday, deputies responded to an uninhabited house on MacKenzie Drive after receiving a call from the realtor assigned to the house who noticed two men on the property. 

Puett said the men appeared to be attempting to burglarize the house. 

When deputies arrived, they made contact with one of the men in the front yard. After discovering he had an arrest warrant, they took the man into custody. 

The other man went back into the house. After calling for additional units, deputies entered the house and discovered the man in a crawl space attic above the garage. 

Puett said the man was unresponsive when deputies found him and later determined to be deceased. 

Puett said they are awaiting autopsy results and the incident is still under investigation.