Late Sunday afternoon, an Overland Park Police Department officer was killed in the line of duty.
Officer Mike Mosher was killed while investigating a hit-and-run call near 123rd and Antioch.
Mosher was on his way into work when he accepted the call.
“It’s a difficult, difficult thing to know that one of our officers is no longer with us,” said Police Department Chief Frank Donchez. “He was proud to be a police officer. He loved what he did and he was damn good at it.”
Mosher was a 14-year veteran of the department, a field training officer, and a community policing officer. Mosher was involved in an ambush shooting in 2018 and received a Metropolitan Chiefs and Sheriffs Association Officer of the Year award for his actions during that incident. He was also the president of the Overland Park Fraternal Order of Police.
Early Monday morning, Mayor Carl Gerlach expressed his sympathy. “His tragic death this evening is a reminder that Mike, and our police officers, who pledge to serve and protect Overland Park, face great dangers and continue to serve with honor and commitment.”
The suspect, whose name has not been released, was also shot and died at the scene. The Johnson County Officer-Involved Shooting Investigation Team is now investigating.
Gerlach has ordered the flags to half staff in Overland Park beginning Monday in honor of Mosher’s service.
Those who would like to make a donation in memory of Officer Mosher can do so on the Overland Park Police Officers Foundation website.
Mosher is the second Overland Park Police Department officer to be killed in the line of duty. Deanna Rose, after which Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead was named, was killed during a traffic stop in 1985.