FALL RIVER

KBI agents shoot, kill 38-year-old

An armed Elk County man was shot to death in a confrontation with law enforcement officers, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said.

KBI Director Larry Welch said agents shot Toby Bunyard, 38, about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday at his rural Fall River home after he drew a gun and pointed it.

Bunyard died a short time later at a Wichita hospital.

Welch would not say how many KBI agents fired at Bunyard.

Welch said the Elk County Sheriff’s Office requested the KBI’s help in trying to take Bunyard into custody on charges of domestic battery and making a criminal threat.

DWIGHT

Morris County fire proves fatal for senior

A 74-year-old man and at least four dogs were killed in a fire that destroyed a house near Dwight in northeast Kansas.

Authorities had not yet released the identity of the man Thursday, pending notification of relatives.

A motorist who saw smoke coming from the rural home called the Morris County Sheriff’s Department at 5:40 p.m. Wednesday, Undersheriff Scott Coover said.

The county coroner pronounced the man dead at the scene of the fire.

Coover said the house was mostly gutted but still standing. The Kansas Fire Marshal’s Office and the Sheriff’s Department are investigating the fire.

BELOIT

Principal makes good on bet with students

Beloit Elementary Principal Joel Applegate pitched a tent on the school rooftop to make good on a promise he made to students.

If the students made improvements on standardized tests, Applegate said he would spend 24 hours atop the roof. The youngsters delivered, raising reading and overall marks on the national Terra Nova test.

With temperatures Wednesday hitting unseasonable highs in the 70s, Applegate climbed onto the rooftop with a wireless telephone and a walkie talkie. He finished his dare Thursday, after enduring lows forecast in the 20s and 30s.

WICHITA

Murder charge filed in year’s first homicide

A Wichita man was charged with first-degree murder in the city’s first homicide of the year.

Miguel Moreno, 24, was charged Wednesday in the death of Tony Baker, 40. Baker was shot Sunday at his home.

“We’re not ruling out any motive at this time, but we believe it could have been a robbery,” Wichita Police Lt. Ken Landwehr said.