The following news release comes from Special Agent Bridgett Patton, a spokeswoman for the FBI office in Kansas City, MO.

“The FBI is aware of media reports concerning the person who walked in to the Kansas City Federal Building today. While the individual was detained and questioned, there is no public safety concern and we determined no personnel inside the federal building were in harm’s way.

 

“The individual walked into the Federal Building to clarify whether he was under investigation by a federal agency. The individual did not make a threat of a bomb or explosive device being contained in his vehicle.

“Federal Law prohibits the FBI from discussing whether a person may or may not be included on national security related lists.

“Local Police and FBI Agents acting with an abundance of caution responded appropriately with the initial limited information they had based on witness accounts of what happened. A police canine sniffed the person’s car and alerted to a possible explosive substance.

“A closer look has determined that no items of concern have been located in the individuals vehicle. Again, the primary concern was for the public’s safety which made the actions today necessary.”

The Royals game Friday night at Kauffman Stadium will go on as scheduled despite an attempted murder and suicide in a parking lot.

Police say a man shot a parking lot employee of the Kansas City Royals after an argument of some kind. Officials say the man then turned the gun on himself.

The incident happened around 3:40 p.m. in Lot A at the stadium complex, between Kauffman Stadium and Arrowhead Stadium.

The woman was taken to an area hospital, and the man was found dead in his car.

Officials say the game tonight will go on as scheduled, but that parking lot will be closed, as police continue their investigation.

The man at the heart of the bomb threat that forced evacuations in downtown Kansas City is well known to Kansas City Chiefs fans as “helmet man.”

The Kansas City Star reports calling the suspect, tentatively identified as Wahed Moharam.

A man identifying himself as Wahed said “everything is OK.”

He added: “And everything mistake. Everything mistake. I didn’t have any bad thing anyway. Everything is just…thank you and God bless you and I’m OK.”

The newspaper reports Waheed’s tickets were revoked out of safety concerns in 2003 because he was in the federal witness protection program for testifying in the first World Trade Center bombing.

Sources told the Star the man created a disturbance inside the Fletcher Daniels building at 615 E. 13th Street by yelling something to the effect of: “Why am I on the terrorist watch list?”

That prompted deployment of FBI bomb dogs, which reportedly registered a “hit” on the man’s car.

(Note: shortly after 4:30 this afternoon, the FBI announced that there was no longer any fear of a threat to the general public, and that no items of concern were found in the car. The Bureau also reported that the suspect they’ve been questioning did not make a bomb threat, but agents with a bomb-sniffing dog did register a “hit” on the man’s car. We expect more information from the FBI shortly. Refresh this post for the latest. The FBI says the man sought to find out if he was the subject of a federal investigation.)

Downtown Kansas City, Missouri was thrown into turmoil Friday after a bomb threat at the federal building at 13th Street and Holmes appears to have had some merit.

Kansas City reported throngs of people outside, while the Kansas City Police Department’s bomb squad investigated a vehicle that a police dog confirmed contained some kind of explosive. There were multiple reports that the bomb-squad did find a handgun.

The state office building was evacuated as a precaution.  Some workers in the federal building were given the option of leaving early for the day.  The Jackson County Jail was placed in lockdown.  The Jackson County Courthouse was not evacuated.  Many other businesses in the southeastern sections of downtown Kansas City shut down and were evacuated, as officials created a wide perimeter around the scene.

Officers on foot and on horseback were patrolling the area.

It’s does not appear the bomb threat in Kansas City is related to two other bomb threats reported Friday on university campuses in Texas and North Dakota.

North Dakota State University President Dean Bresciani said 20,000 people also were evacuated from his school’s main and downtown campuses in Fargo after the school received a threat by telephone Friday morning. No bomb was found.

The University of Texas received a call about 8:35 a.m. from a man claiming to be with al-Qaida who said he had placed bombs all over the Austin campus. A spokeswoman said the caller claimed the bombs would go off in 90 minutes and all buildings were evacuated at 9:50 a.m. as a precaution.

The deadline passed without incident, and the university later announced all buildings has been cleared and were reopening.

11:25am.

Emergency responders are heading to an area east of Atchison, Kansas to the report of a two-vehicle accident with injuries at 13959 SW US-59 highway.

Witnesses place the accident near the Amelia Earhart bridge by the gas station.

 

 

11:40 am. Officers are shutting down the westbound lanes and directing both directions of travel via the eastbound lanes of US 59.  One person is reported with a neck injury in the rear-end collision.

Authorities now say the accident scene has been cleared and traffic is moving through the area normally.

An area estate has donated nearly a half-million dollars to establish a scholarship fund at Missouri Western for Central High School students.

The donation comes from the Earl and Emyra “Susie” Euler estate of Blair Kansas which will endow a scholarship with $474,000 for Central High students attending Missouri Western.

“We’re extremely grateful for this generous gift, which is one ofthe largest scholarship endowments we’ve ever received,” said Dr. Robert Vartabedian, Missouri Western’s president. “A bequest of this size will make a tremendous impact, enabling the university to provide about $19,000 each year to local students who might otherwise not be able to attend college.”

Susie Euler was born in St. Joseph, and attended Edison Elementary and Central High School before entering St. Joseph Junior College, which later became Missouri Western State University. Earl Euler was born on the family farm near Blair, Kan., and attended Aberle Country School, Wathena High School, Highland Community College and Kansas State University.

The first scholarships from the Earl and Elmyra Euler Scholarship Fund are expected to be awarded to students entering Missouri Western in fall 2013.

Two Bethany men are being held under $100 thousand dollars bond in Nodaway County after an assault outside a bar early Friday in which the victim died.

Officials at Northwest Missouri State University identify the victim as 21 year-old Tomarken Smith, a senior studying pre-professional studies and coaching.

The Nodaway County Prosecuting Attorney Bob Rice on Friday filed charges of assault in the first degree and felony murder in second degree against Kevin Mooney, 31 and Tony Overlin, 23.  Formal arraignment is scheduled Tuesday, September 18.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, Smith was assaulted at the intersection of North Market and Fourth streets shortly before 1:30am Friday. A detective says Mr. Smith was knocked to the sidewalk and lost consciousness.

He was taken to St Francis Hospital where he died about an hour later.

A police sergeant observed the pair running from Mr. Smith’s body after he was knocked to the sidewalk. Sergeant Smail says he recognized the two men as the same ones involved in an altercation with Mr. Smith inside Molly’s bar at about 1:05 a.m.

Police in Maryville are investigating the overnight death of a Northwest Missouri State University Student.

The University announced this morning 21 year-old Tomarken Smith was assaulted at Fourth and Market around 1:30 this morning.

That location is near a few bars in Maryville, and located on the town square. There is no word if alcohol was involved at this time.

Smith was injured and was taken to St Francis Hospital in Maryville. He was pronounced dead around 2:30.

Charges are expected to be filed once the case is presented to the Nodaway County Prosecuting Attorney. The University says the involved individuals are in custody.

Update: Charges were filed Friday morning in Nodaway County.  Find that Story Here: http://www.stjosephpost.com/2012/09/14/update-two-charged-with-felony-murder-in-maryville-bar-fight/