KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KCTV) – Kansas City, Kansas, officials have confirmed the death of an officer who they say was “deliberately” hit by a car early Tuesday morning.
Officer Hunter Simoncic, 26, was critically injured shortly before 1 a.m. on August 26. He was pronounced dead at the University of Kansas Medical Center later that morning, the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department confirmed during a press conference.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has taken over the case and said Officer Simoncic was hit near 75th and State Avenue, just outside the Kansas City Kansas Community College (KCKCC).
He was reportedly trying to stop a suspect’s car with stop sticks, a common tool used by law enforcement in an effort to intervene with suspects who refuse to slow down for police.
Officers were initially called to the area around 12:30 a.m. on a report of gunshots.
When officers arrived, they found a suspect, later identified as 31-year-old Dennis Mitchell III, unconscious inside a truck. Officers tried to approach him, which is when he reportedly took off and initiated the chase at 12:40 a.m.
Mitchell is said to have abandoned his first vehicle, taken another, then driven eastbound on State Avenue, where Officer Simoncic was deploying stop sticks. Mitchell reportedly drove over the sticks, across a median and into Officer Simoncic before continuing on.
At 12:55 a.m., he crashed the truck approximately two-and-a-half miles away, near 65th and Kaw Drive.
KCKPD said Mitchell was transported to a nearby hospital and has since been treated and released to the Wyandotte County Jail.
He was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder, vehicular homicide, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, theft, criminal possession of a firearm, and aggravated failure to appear. Formal charges are pending.
Chief Oakman said in all his years of policing, he has yet to see a suspect seemingly so calculated in his efforts to harm an officer.
“It’s a dangerous job, and the men and women of this department go above and beyond every day, knowing those dangers. Sometimes it just doesn’t make any sense for someone to do something like that, to deliberately hit the officer, to go out of their way to strike that officer,” said Chief Oakman.
In 1998, KCKPD Sergeant Richard Asten died after he was deliberately hit while deploying stop sticks. That scene was just four miles from where Officer Simoncic was struck on Tuesday, near N 98th Street and France Family Drive.
This morning’s death comes exactly one month after Wyandotte County Sheriff Elijah Ming was killed in the line of duty on July 26, 2025.
Kansas City, Kansas, Mayor Tyrone Garner said “senseless” and ”unnecessary” come to mind when describing the City’s second officer death in 30 days.
“A young man that came to work and, like everybody else, wanted to go home. And he was denied that.”
The Kansas City, Kansas, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #4 has opened a fund for Officer Simoncic’s family. To donate, visit any Public Safety Credit Union location and ask to contribute to the “KCK FOP Memorial Fund c/o Simoncic Family.”
The area around State Avenue and College Parkway was closed for several hours while KCKPD, KBI, the Kansas Highway Patrol and other agencies continued their investigation. The roadway has since reopened.
In a post to X, Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas offered prayers for Officer Simoncic, saying “thankfully” the suspect is in custody.
KCKCC released the following statement:
“The incident, involving a KCK police officer who was injured while trying to apprehend a suspect on State Avenue, is terrible. Shortly after midnight, Kansas City Kansas Community College Police responded to a call for assistance from the KCK Police Department and immediately assisted at the scene of the incident. This incident was not on campus and did not impact any KCKCC site. KCKCC classes and services continue without disruption. Our thoughts and prayers are with the injured officer at this difficult time.”
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