OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nearly $18,000 worth of snakes and feeding rats have been stolen from an exotic pet store in Omaha.

Surveillance video shows a burglary being committed at Bart’s Exotic Pets early Friday. The intruder collected eight ball pythons, including one valued at $5,000, in a little more than a minute and a half.

The suspect also stole $1,500 in frozen rats.

Store owner Don Everson says he believes the thief is a former customer. He intends to press charges.

Everson says the ball python is a constrictor snake found in sub-Saharan Africa. Growing from 3 to 5 feet, it’s the smallest of the African pythons and is popular in the pet trade because of its typically docile temperament.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say a stray bullet from a rolling gun battle struck and killed a 4-year-old as he rode in the backseat of a car in Kansas City.

Police said in a news release that Mahsaan Kelley-Wilson, of Kansas City, died at a hospital after the car’s driver rushed him there. Police say his parents unknowingly drove into the gunfight early Monday involving people in two vehicles east of downtown. No one else was wounded.

The shooting happened after another 4-year-old boy suffered a critical head wound Saturday across the state in St. Louis while riding in a car with his father and another man. Police say another vehicle pulled alongside and someone opened fire.

No arrests have been made in either shooting.

ASPEN, Colo. (AP) —Authorities say a Colorado woman saved her 5-year-old son’s life by prying his head from a mountain lion’s mouth after the animal attacked the boy in their front yard.

Pitkin County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Buglione (BOO-lee-oh-nee) says the woman told him she found the lion crouched over her son biting his head Friday outside their home near the resort town of Aspen. She told deputies she grabbed one of the animal’s paws and stuck her right hand in its mouth to pry it open.

Buglione says the mother had bite marks on her hand and scratches on her leg after the lion, estimated to be about 2 years old, ran off.

He says the boy suffered deep cuts to his face, head and neck and was taken to a Denver hospital. Their names weren’t released.

Wildlife officials say they shot one young mountain lion near the home and a second one in the area several hours later.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha church has begun work on turning a former television station facility into a health clinic and food pantry for the poor.

Congregants at Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church held a groundbreaking Sunday at the site, which sits a few blocks west of downtown Omaha. Station KETV occupied the site for more than a half century until moving more to a renovated former railroad station.

The church sits next door to KETV’s former home. Church plans call for a one-story health clinic and a two-story Kountze Commons that will have space for church events, the food pantry and a small cafe.

The Rev. Dean Baird says the 2,000-member, 110-year-old congregation paid $2.2 million for the KETV property.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Private family services have been scheduled for a 2-year-old Nebraska boy killed by an alligator at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

A vigil service for Lane Graves is set for 3 p.m. Monday at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Omaha, Nebraska. The funeral is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Tuesday, also at St. Patrick’s.

Authorities say an alligator pulled Lane into the water last Tuesday, despite the frantic efforts of his father. Lane’s body was recovered Wednesday.

An autopsy showed the boy died from drowning and traumatic injuries.

The beach at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa is across a lake from the Magic Kingdom. It had “no swimming” signs but no warning about alligators. The company added alligator warning signs on Friday.

KENNARD, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say an elected official died in an accident on his rural property in Washington County in eastern Nebraska.

The Sheriff’s Office says 60-year-old Scott Japp was found dead about 5:30 p.m. Sunday near his home three miles west of Kennard. The office says Japp was trying to unload a miniature antique bulldozer from a trailer when he got pinned between the bulldozer and the rear of a truck.

Japp had been running for his third term on the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District board. His two previous terms had been marked by disagreements with other board members over dam construction plans, the district’s tax levy and other issues.

On Sunday board member John Conley acknowledged the disagreements but said he appreciated Japp’s opinions.

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — A former Hasting police detective has been charged with using a fundraising site to raise money for fraudulent medical expenses.

46-year-old Jerry Esch is charged with theft by deception involving more than $5,000.

Ecsh told authorities he raised more than $30,000 after posting the GoFundMe page. Court documents say he told co-workers he needed to cover medical expenses not covered by his insurance provider, Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

The affidavit also says that Blue Cross Blue Shield records from October 2014 to November 2015 show that Ecsh didn’t have any out-of-network services and that he had no denied claims in 2015.

Hastings Police Chief Pete Kortum didn’t confirm if Esch’s departure from the department was connected to the financial issue.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Ecsh has an attorney.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 19-year-old man has drowned in a private sand-pit lake in Hall County.

The Hall County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release that deputies responded to a call of a man in the water around 6:15 a.m. Sunday.

About three hours later, the body of Devon Klein, of Grand Island, was pulled from the water.

Members of the Grand Island Rural Fire Department, Grand Island Fire Department, and both the Grand Island and Kearney Dive Rescue Teams helped in the recovery of Klein’s body.

Authorities continue to investigate the circumstances of Klein’s drowning, and an autopsy has been ordered.

ASHLAND, Neb. (AP) — The Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium is planning to overhaul its safari park near Ashland, but officials have not announced what those plans will entail.

Zoo CEO and executive director Dennis Pate said he and his staff have started working on a master plan to reconfigure the Lee G. Simmons Conservation Park and Wildlife Safari.

The plan is due out by the end of the year.

The $3.5 million park opened in June 1998, focusing on North American species. It now features animals such as bison, black bears, eagles, wolves, elk, deer and sandhill cranes.

It is open seasonally from spring until fall and drew 143,668 attendees last year.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Two Nebraska residents have been arrested in Iowa, accused of taking three stolen vehicles on a camping trip.

35-year-old Mark Berlett, of Omaha, and 26-year-old Brooke Vacanti, of La Vista, were arrested around 4:15 p.m. Wednesday at Hitchcock Nature Center in Honey Creek.

Berlett is charged with theft and a second offense of operating while intoxicated. Vacanti is charged with theft, possession of illegal prescription pills and of drug paraphernalia.

Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s deputies say they found a sport utility vehicle, a pickup and a travel trailer — all of which had been reported stolen — at the pair’s campsite.

Both remained at the Pottawattamie County Jail on Saturday and could not be reached for comment..