Missouri police officer killed, second officer injured in convenience store shooting

ST. LOUIS — Police continued an apparent standoff early Monday with a St. Louis County man wanted in connection with a shooting that killed one Hermann, Mo., police officer and injured another on Sunday night.

Hermann Police Sgt. Mason Griffith died of his injuries at a hospital after being shot at a Casey’s convenience store in the small town just before 9:30 p.m. Sunday. The Missouri Highway Patrol announced Griffith’s dead early Monday.

The second Hermann officer who was shot remains hospitalized in serious condition, the patrol said.

The patrol issued a “Blue Alert” and identified the suspect as Kenneth Lee Simpson, 35, of Eureka. Such an alert is issued when an officer is killed or seriously injured.

Since about three hours after the shooting, the manhunt was focused heavily near a house in Hermann along Highway 19, not far from the store where the shooting happened. Officers were asking for spotlights to see between two homes. The scene was described as a standoff of sorts, as police surrounded the home and were yelling at the gunman to come outside.

Police earlier had searched near a motel in Hermann, where Simpson and his girlfriend may have rented a room Sunday.

Cpl. Kyle Green of the Missouri Highway

Patrol said in an interview early Monday that he had no developments to report on the gunman.

Authorities have not released details describing what led to the shooting or said if officers returned fire. Hermann Police Chief Marlon Walker, could not be reached for comment.

The Missouri Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control is investigating the case.

After Sunday night’s shooting, at least one patient was being rushed to a hospital by ambulance. A dispatcher told the first medic who arrived at the convenience store that a medical helicopter was being sent to meet them at a nearby hospital but that the helicopter was 34 minutes away.