Community raises funds for family of Missouri police officer shot and killed on duty
Community members are raising funds to help the family of an eastern Missouri police officer shot and killed at a gas station Sunday night while on duty.
More than $1,100 has been raised as of Tuesday afternoon to help family cover the cost of funeral services for Detective Sgt. Mason Griffith, who died from injuries sustained in the shooting around 9:20 Sunday night at a Casey’s gas station at 811 Market St. in Hermann, Missouri.
Kayla Rowden, who organized the GoFundMe, described Griffith as a hero. Being a police officer was Griffith’s dream, she wrote, and he rose through the ranks to become the police chief in Rosebud, Missouri and later a detective sergeant in Hermann. He is survived by his wife and two sons, Rowden said.
“He was a devoted father, husband, son, and friend!” Rowden wrote. “He had a smile that was absolutely contagious, and he had a love for caring for his community, and adventures with his family.”
Another officer was seriously injured in the shooting, but was in stable condition at the hospital.
Shortly after the shooting, the highway patrol issued a blue alert, which signals the search for a suspect when an officer has been seriously wounded or killed in the line of duty.
The suspect, Kenneth Lee Simpson, 35, surrendered to authorities Monday afternoon, after an hours-long standoff at a home on Missouri 19 highway in Hermann. He was taken into custody by the highway patrol’s SWAT team, the highway patrol said.
