A former Galesburg resident serving as a Kansas City, Kansas, police officer died Tuesday morning from injuries suffered when a driver veered toward him and struck him during a police pursuit.
Hunter Simoncic, a 2018 graduate of Erie High School, died at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City. He and another officer had been deploying stop sticks in an attempt to deflate the tires and slow down the stolen truck in the 7200 block of State Avenue in Kansas City.
After deploying the devices, Simoncic went to the median, following the procedure to get out of danger, Police Chief Karl Oakman said at a press conference Tuesday. The driver drove over the stop sticks and then veered toward and struck Simoncic.
“This was a situation that we do across the metro thousands of times a year, deploying stop sticks, and this individual felt the need to run Hunter down and kill him,” Oakman said. “That is not a vehicle accident. This was an intentional act of homicide on a police officer.”
The driver was later identified as Dennis Edward Mitchell III, 31, of Kansas City, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
Simoncic was rushed to a hospital with life-threatening injuries and died a few hours later.
The chase followed an investigation into a gunshots- fired call at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, when KCKPD officers responded to near the 7700 block of Everett Avenue after an alert from the city’s gunshot detection system. About 10 minutes later, officers found an unconscious man in the driver’s seat of a truck. As officers approached the driver, he woke up and sped off, according to the KBI, which KCKPD brought in to lead the investigation.
Officers pursued the driver. Mitchell abandoned the first truck, entered a second truck and continued fleeing from officers, the KBI reported.
After allegedly striking Simoncic, Mitchell wrecked the truck about 12:55 a.m. Tuesday near the 6400 block of Kaw Drive, about four miles away. Police arrested Mitchell and took him to the University of Kansas Medical Center for examination. Mitchell was treated, released and transported to the Wyandotte County Jail. Police later learned both trucks had been reported stolen.
Besides the KBI, Kansas Highway Patrol’s Critical Highway Accident Response Team is also assisting with documenting the vehicle incidents.
At the press conference, Chief Oakman read what Simoncic wrote at the time of his graduation from the KCKPD police academy in November 2023.
“Hunter chose to become an officer so he could take what he learned in life to make positive changes in a community he believes truly deserved it and served as a mentor for you,” Oakman said. “He would like to thank his parents for instilling ethics such as character, hard work and grit, as well as life tools he needed to pursue his career.”
Simoncic earned a bachelor of science degree in sociology from Pittsburg State University in 2021 and a master’s degree in forensic science from Oklahoma State University in 2023. Before the KCKPD Academy, Simoncic worked as a shift supervisor for the Southeast Kansas Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Girard.
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“We are deeply saddened to hear of his passing and our thoughts and prayers are with the family during this difficult time,” said Erie USD 101 Superintendent Scott Palser. He added that the district and the Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center have a partnership, and counselors would be available in case students or staff needed grief counseling services in the wake of Simoncic’s death.
Nancy Chartrand, media relations specialist with the KCKPD, provided the background on Simoncic’s education and employment.
“We believe his roots in the community there in SE Kansas helped shape the character that made him a model police officer,” Chartrand said in an email to the Sun.
Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree Sr. announced Wednesday afternoon that Mitchell has been charged with one count of capital murder, though he said a decision on whether to seek the death penalty or life in prison without parole upon conviction will be made after weighing the evidence and consulting with Simoncic’s family and investigators. Mitchell is also charged with fleeing or attempting to elude officers, two counts of theft and one count of criminal possession of a firearm by a felon. Mitchell is jailed on a $2 million bond, according to the Kansas City Star.
In announcing the charges Wednesday, Dupree said that law enforcement should not be targets in the community. Officers have sacrificed too much to protect the community.
“But it is my hope that today the community will hear me that it is not OK to come after our law enforcement. It is not OK to come after the people who put their lives on the line on a daily basis,” he said.
Officers have wives, children, mothers, fathers. These officers sacrifice it all daily.
“We are in this thing together. And as they fight to keep us safe, this office will fight to do everything in our power to rain justice down on anyone who dares to harm them,” Dupree said.
Of Simoncic, Dupree said: “In his two years on the force, he made a profound impact on the department and the community he served so proudly. His sacrifice will never be forgotten. To the family, this county stands with you. And we’re here to support you in every way that we can, and in every way that is needed.”
Simoncic volunteered in the Kansas City community and read to grade-school students at Banneker Elementary School through the Lead to Read program.
Dr. Anna Stubblefield, superintendent of Kansas City Kansas Public Schools, said the Lead to Read program partners with the KCK school district to support student literacy.
“We are deeply grateful for the time and care he shared with our students,” she said in an email to the Sun.
Simoncic’s death comes a month after Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Deputy Elijah Ming was killed in the line of duty. Ming responded to a domestic violence call to help a woman who was moving out of a home in the Argentine neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas, and feared for her safety, according to the Kansas City Star.
Shawn Harris, 38, allegedly confronted Ming and opened fire, striking him. Harris is charged with capital murder and criminal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection with Ming’s death. The department’s last line-ofduty deaths happened in 2016, when two officers were killed months apart.
Police detective Brad Lancaster was shot to death in May 2016 after police began a pursuit of a Tonganoxie man near the Kansas Speedway and ended in Kansas City near Bannister Road and Bruce R. Watkins Drive. That July, police Capt. Robert Melton was shot to death as police were responding to a drive-by shooting and subsequent police chase, the Star reported.
Service time set
The funeral service for KCKPD Officer Hunter Simoncic will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3, at Children’s Mercy Park, 1 Sporting Way, KCK.
Parking lots will open at 7:30 a.m. that day with stadium gates opening at 8.
A law enforcement processional starts 30 minutes after the conclusion of the service. The route will be posted once details have been confirmed.
Attendees should approach Children’s Mercy Park from State Avenue. Public parking will be located on the south side of the stadium in Blue Lot 2 on the grounds of the Kansas Speedway. Village West Parkway and France Family Drive will be closed to public traffic.
KCKPD announced that it encourages community members to display blue ribbons outside their homes and businesses as a sign of support of the Simoncic family and the men and women of the KCKPD. It is a small gesture, but powerful and unifying one, the department noted.
Donations
The official memorial fund for Officer Hunter Simoncic is set up through the Kansas City, Kansas, Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 4.
Donations can be made to: KCK FOP Memorial Fund c/o Simoncic Family at any Public Safety Credit Union location.
All proceeds collected will be donated directly to the family.
To find Public Safety Credit Union locations, visit: https:// www.publicsafetycu.org/contact- us/locations/.
What others are saying: Antonio Munoz ran The Kaleidoscope Theatre for young people for a number of years at what is now the Carnegie Arts Center, 17th and Broadway, in Parsons. Simoncic participated in productions over the years, including “A Walk in the Woods.”
In high school and in his younger years, Simoncic also participated in athletics, 4-H, chess and drama. He was an honor student and a member of the National Honor Society.
Munoz said Simoncic got involved in Kaleidoscope when he was about 10.
“He was very eager to keep things correct. He could be very funny when he made a mistake. He was in a play at the Erie High School, and I went to see him. After his performance, we were talking about his appearance on stage, and he asked if I had noticed that he was following all the directions that I had given him in Kaleidoscope Theatre. He had followed them all. He was very proud that he remembered them all,” Munoz said.
“He was a good guy to work with.”
Elizabeth Merrell taught Simoncic in kindergarten. She shared some thoughts about Simoncic in a TV interview this week on KSNTV.
“He talked about how he could change the world,” Merrell said. “I just have strong memories of him being so happy.”
She described Simoncic as someone with a big heart and a calling to serve.
“He had a huge belief that he could make the world a better place,” she said in the interview. “It’s just heart-wrenching.”
Merrell said her former student will be remembered not just for how he died, but for how he lived.
“He was an incredible person. He loved everyone, and he always wanted to make a difference,” she told the reporter.
KCK Mayor Tyrone Garner called for the community to support the police department and Simoncic’s family during their time of grief.
“I can tell you, looking in family members’ eyes and trying to console them, there’s no words to heal the pain and the devastation that they’re dealing with — a job as mayor that I don’t ever want to have to do again, because I hurt for those families. I hurt for all our public safety professionals.”
Garner worked for the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department for 32 years, ultimately reaching the rank of deputy chief.
Steven Jennings, a Kansas City Realtor, posted on Facebook that his heart was heavy for the loss of his friend, Hunter Simoncic.
“What hurts the most is knowing it didn’t have to be this way. Somewhere along the line, someone acted without conscious thought, without recognizing the humanity of another. And that disregard has taken away one of the brightest souls I’ve ever known.
“I often think about how so many people move through this world reacting just to react, without considering the weight of their choices. That kind of energy — of fear, of disregard — has to stop. We can’t keep living in a way where we’re afraid of each other, afraid of the unknown, afraid of how others may lash out. That’s no way to live. Each of us has our struggles, but those very things are what make us human, what make us special. We can’t allow ourselves to reach spaces where there’s no turning back.”
He said that Hunter was a friend and a servant to his community. He holds onto the memory of Hunter being motivated, caring, loving, intelligent and honest. “A friend who showed up when I needed him, who’d check in without hesitation, who made me feel seen and valued.”
He said he’s learning that connection matters more than anything. “A call, a text, a moment of checking in — it can leave an everlasting mark on someone’s heart. In a world where it’s too easy to disconnect, we need to feel felt, we need to feel loved, and we need to remind each other we’re not alone.”
Jackson County Planning Commissioner Justice Horn said Simoncic had been a longtime friend of his with a secret passion for writing. He had been working on a book before his death. He urged community members to make time for their friends today: “It’s really hard to write this letter - truly one of the hardest things I’ve done in a while. It’s taking everything in me to find the words, but I know I have to try.
“I knew Hunter. I knew him for a long time. We were longtime friends, and through the years I came to understand just how much heart he had. I remember when he first talked to me about wanting to serve his community. He had a real calling for it, and he believed that being part of the police force was the best way to make a difference.”
Dennis Mitchell III
Dennis Mitchell III has a drug case pending in Wyandotte County District Court for allegedly possessing 3 grams of methamphetamine.
At the district attorney’s press conference on Wednesday, reporters asked about the low bond set in Mitchell’s drug possession case.
Dupree said the judge set the bond at $5,000 and Mitchell bonded out in December.
He later failed to appear in court. The judge set a higher bond of $7,500 upon Mitchell’s arrest. Mitchell posted that bond in June. Mitchell failed to appear in KCK court in July when he was in custody in Iowa.
Mitchell’s bond company told the judge about Mitchell being in custody and asked that Mitchell’s bond be released and the judge agreed, giving Mitchell another court date, Dupree said. Mitchell failed to appear again and faced a still higher bond.
A reporter asked Dupree about Mitchell being arrested but never charged in a murder investigation in 2021. Dupree said there was no evidence to prosecute Mitchell, so he could not file the case.
Court records show that Mitchell has also been charged in the past with fleeing from police, fleeing from an accident and reckless driving. He served time in prison after his probation in two drug cases was revoked.
In December 2021, Mitchell was charged in Ellsworth County with fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, a felony.
He pleaded guilty to fleeing a police officer and driving with a suspended license in January 2022. He received probation instead of 12 months in prison. In December 2022, he pleaded guilty in Jackson County, Missouri, to felony resisting arrest, detention, or stop by fleeing a police officer. He received six days in jail to run concurrently with the cases in Wyandotte and Ellsworth counties, according to court records and a report in the Kansas City Star.
