Kansas Metropolis is mourning the lack of a police officer after he was fatally struck by a driver fleeing legislation enforcement whereas making an attempt to deploy cease sticks.
The Kansas Metropolis Police Division in Kansas recognized the slain officer as 26-year-old Hunter Simoncic.
The younger officer graduated from the division’s academy in 2023.
Simoncic was struck early Tuesday morning whereas deploying cease sticks on State Avenue in an effort to cease a driver who was fleeing legislation enforcement, in accordance with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
Dennis Mitchell III, 31, is accused of hitting Simoncic and is charged with capital homicide, fleeing or making an attempt to elude a police officer, prison possession of a weapon and two counts of theft, in accordance with Wyandotte County District Legal professional Mark Dupree on Wednesday.
The incident started at round 12:30 a.m. Tuesday when Kansas Metropolis officers responded to experiences of pictures fired on Everett Avenue, in accordance with the division.
Officers arrived on the location at 12:40 a.m. to seek out an unconscious man, later recognized as Mitchell, within the driver’s seat of a truck.
He wakened after they approached him and fled the scene, sparking a pursuit.
Mitchell deserted the truck he was driving for an additional truck and continued fleeing, KBI mentioned.
Whereas police continued pursuing Mitchell, Simoncic and one other KCKPD officer exited their automobile to stage cease sticks.
When Mitchell obtained near that location, he allegedly drove towards Simoncic, hit him with the second truck and drove off.
Simoncic was taken to the College of Kansas Medical Middle, the place he was pronounced lifeless.
After allegedly hitting the officer, Mitchell wrecked at round 12:55 a.m. on Kaw Drive.
He was taken into custody and transported to the identical hospital as Simoncic for remedy.
He was launched not lengthy after and brought to the Wyandotte County Jail.
Police mentioned they later realized each vans Mitchell drove Tuesday evening had been reported stolen.
The division mentioned in a Fb submit that Simoncic’s loss of life brings a “profound sense of loss and ache.”
Earlier than becoming a member of KCKPD, Simoncic labored as a shift supervisor on the Southeast Kansas Regional Juvenile Detention Middle, in accordance with the division.
He additionally held a bachelor’s diploma in sociology and a grasp’s diploma in forensic science.
He was additionally a volunteer at Benjamin Banneker Elementary Faculty and skim to kids on a weekly foundation by way of a program often called Result in Learn KC.
“Whereas he grew up in a small city in southeast Kansas, he selected to serve our neighborhood as a result of, in his phrases, ‘I wish to take what I’ve realized in life to make optimistic adjustments in a neighborhood I imagine actually deserves it.’ Let that sink in,” the division wrote.
Simoncic’s loss of life comes simply weeks after Elijah Ming, a deputy in Kansas Metropolis, was shot and killed within the line of obligation.
“God velocity Hunter. You and Elijah relaxation straightforward, we are going to take it from right here,” KCKPD wrote on Fb.
His funeral is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 3.
