In the town of Hermann, Missouri, population 2,100, Detective Sgt. Mason Griffith and Officer Adam Sullentrup responded to a March 11 burglary call at a convenience store. It was the last police call for Griffith, who was shot by alleged suspect Kenneth Lee Simpson. The detective later died at a hospital, where Sullentrup was in serious condition, too.
Simpson fled the scene, kicking off a search for him by upset police officers, which ended after a standoff when a SWAT team rushed a home near the convenience store and brought him out.
Randy Sutton of The Wounded Blue says police in such a sleepy little town don’t expect a gun fight.
“There is complacency that can take place in a smaller community,” he tells AFN, “because you don't run into the type of violent crime that you do in an urban setting.”
But the criminal history of Simpson, 35, collided with the small town. Simpson’s court records show charges for drug possession, weapons offenses, assault, and property damage, according to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Sutton says Griffith’s murder is the third police death this month. Numerous other officers have been shot, but survived, in the same time period in Florida, Maryland, Los Angeles, and New Jersey, he says.
Griffith is survived by his wife, Jennifer; a 10-year-old son; and a 17-year-old stepson.
