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 JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Missouri House has passed a bill that would allow school districts to hire police resource officers.

 

Sponsoring Republican Rep. Sheila Solon, of Blue Springs, says the measure is part of efforts to keep schools safer after the Connecticut elementary school shooting that killed 20 children.

 

She says that school resource officers are considered county or municipal employees but her bill would allow school districts to hire them directly.

 

The bill would also strengthen the state's mandatory child abuse reporting laws by preventing supervisors from impeding a report.

 

The House voted 129-20 to the send the measure to the Senate Wednesday.

 

The man accused of spiking the soup at the Lafayette Center Dierberg's has been arrested.

 

Police say that John Schwendemann is the person who threw something into a soup crock. Fox 2 reports that Schwendemann voluntarily came to police last (Tuesday) night with his attorney. He says he was in the store on the day of the incident, but said he did not put anything in the soup. Schwendemann faces misdemeanor charges. 

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Police in St. Louis are searching for five men after a woman was killed during a robbery.

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The crime happened Monday night. Police say 39-year-old Glenda Jackson and two others were robbed at gunpoint by five assailants. One of the suspects shot Jackson in the chest as she tried to take back the stolen property.

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The suspects ran from the scene. Jackson was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

UPDATE: The identity of a woman shot and killed overnight in Jennings has been released.

Police say 32-year-old Antoinetta Davis was found dead from a gunshot wound. A suspect is in custody after six children inside the home ran to police for help just before 2:00am Monday.

According to police, officers responded to a home in the 7000 block of Florence Pl. around 1:55 a.m. after the victim’s children reported their mother had been injured.

Police said when they arrived, officers found Davis dead from a gunshot wound.

Authorities said the six children, all preteens, were inside the home when the shooting happened.

A 40-year-old suspect, an ex-boyfriend of the victim and father of some of the children, turned himself into Justice Services in Clayton around 5 a.m.

It is unknown if the children witnessed the murder, but police say some of them found the body.

Authorities said more information would be released as the investigation continues.

 

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis police chief says a sergeant's recent political lobbying work for a pro-marijuana group is "not what is expected of our officers."

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday that Sgt. Gary Wiegert is a lobbyist for Show-Me Cannabis, which wants Missouri to allow the regulated sale of marijuana. Wiegert also lobbies for the St. Louis Tea Party.

Police Chief Sam Dotson released a statement saying Wiegert is not representing the department and Wiegert's comments "are his own and not what is expected of our officers."

Wiegert is a former president of the St. Louis Police Officers Association. Messages left for Wiegert weren't immediately returned.

Police need help to find an 8-year-old boy who was taken by his grandmother over two months ago.

Samual Andres of O'Fallon, Missouri was taken by his grandmother Donna Andres the day after Christmas. Donna has refused to return the child to his mother and police have been unable to find her.

Anyone who believes they have seen either Samual or Donna Andres is asked to call the police.

A former St. Louis County police officer allegedly stole over a thousand dollars from the department by filing fraudulent overtime.

Michael Wood was charged Wednesday for felony stealing. Wood, a 10-year-veteran of the St. Louis County Police Department, was serving as an officer in the North County Precinct when he resigned in November.

ST. LOUIS (AP) - A disciplinary hearing for a St. Louis police officer has taken a new twist after the accuser was arrested following his testimony.

Jerrmaine Lacy has accused officer Charles Proctor of using excessive force during an arrest in July at Lumiere Place Casino. Lacy says the officer choked him and slammed his head into a squad car bumper.

The department's internal affairs division has recommended the firing of Proctor, a nine-year veteran. The hearing is expected to run through Thursday.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Lacy was arrested on four outstanding warrants of trespassing and failure to appear in court. The arrest was prompted by a letter to police chief Sam Dotson from Proctor's attorney, Chet Pleban.

Dotson says the arrest is separate from the hearing.

Police need the public's help to find a 21-year-old woman who is developmentally disabled.

Cara Ascencio was last seen on January 31 after leaving a family member's home. Her family tells police she does not have a cell phone or access to money. Cara suffered a brain injury and has other mental health issues, leaving her with diminished mental capacity. She is a white woman, five-and-a-half feet tall and weighs 185 pounds. She was last seen wearing a pink parka coat, blue jeans, knee high black boots and was carrying a white purse.

Anyone with information is asked to call the St. Peters Police.

One man is in custody, two others are still at large after a rolling gun battle that ended in a crash in downtown St. Louis Wednesday afternoon.

Police believe the incident started about 4:30 p.m. at North Kingshighway and Natural Bridge Avenue when two men in a burgundy Ford Fusion fired shots at another car.

A short time later, police were called to North Broadway and Pine after shots were reported in the area. They arrived to find a silver car that had crashed, and bullet holes in the window of a nearby job placement center.

The 25 year old man who'd been driving the silver car was arrested. Police are still looking for the men in the burgundy Ford.