Police officer facing wrongful death lawsuit was given ‘valor’ awards for fatal shooting
A former Kansas police officer whom prosecutors declined to charge in the 2022 shooting death of a man with a known history of mental health crises was twice presented top “valor” awards by law enforcement groups for his actions during the fatal encounter.
The ceremonies stand in sharp contrast to the federal wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Brandon Lynch, 27, a year ago.
One of the commendations, a “Gold Award for Uncommon Valor” presented by the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police on May 1, 2024, was handed out two days before the family filed its suit against the officer, Conner Thompson, and the city of Olathe.
In the complaint filed in the District of Kansas, Lynch’s family claims Thompson “unnecessarily escalated the situation” and applied an “unreasonable use of excessive force” that failed to consider proper crisis intervention training.
Details of the awards — the first of which was given to Thompson by the Kansas City Metropolitan Area Chiefs and Sheriffs Association in November 2023 — have not been previously reported. A detailed review of the awards shows that Thompson and his then-partner were honored for what police say occurred on the night Lynch was fatally shot, New Year’s Eve in 2022.
Specifically, the Metropolitan Area Chiefs and Sheriffs Association said the officers “responded to a disturbance” at a home where a woman called to say her brother had assaulted her. Once at the home, the officers told the woman to wait outside while they entered and were confronted by the man, who was armed with a knife and Taser, the group’s narrative of events said.
When the man “continued to be aggressive” and did not obey orders, Thompson’s partner attempted to use his department-issued Taser on him, but it was “ineffective,” the narrative said.
“The suspect defied Thompson’s commands and advanced towards both officers,” the narrative said. “Recognizing the suspect was in close proximity of the officers, Thompson fired his handgun at the suspect, striking him.”
“During a tense situation, Thompson had the wherewithal to conduct life-saving measures,” the narrative added.
The version of events offered by the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police was similar.
Neither narrative mentioned Lynch by name nor explained that a dispatcher had relayed to officers that Lynch was exhibiting a mental health crisis, as his sister had explained when she called 911. Nor did the narratives note that officers had had prior encounters with him at the home, including one time in which Thompson was in a “physical altercation” with Lynch, according to the Johnson County prosecutors who investigated the shooting and determined “the officer properly used deadly force in this incident.”
A review of the “valor” awards given to other officers by the Metropolitan Area Chiefs and Sheriffs Association that year show they were for actions such as saving suicidal people, helping a gunshot victim and assisting an infant who stopped breathing because of a respiratory virus.
The law firm for Lynch’s family, Cannezzaro Marvel LLC in Kansas City, Missouri, declined to comment about the suit or the officer being awarded for his actions on the night Lynch died.
The president of the Metropolitan Area Chiefs and Sheriffs Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dennis Shaw, the executive director of the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police, said in an email that “the officer was cleared by the District Attorney,” and the narrative the association shared “was presented to us for consideration.”
While the honor given to Thompson stood out in the awards ceremony, it’s not unheard of for officers to receive commendations related to fatal shooting incidents.
Narene Stokes, whose son, Ryan, was fatally shot by Kansas City, Missouri, police in 2013, recalled feeling “baffled, angry and confused” when she learned the officers involved in his death were recognized with awards by a local police board for their actions. The award, however, was later rescinded.
“The officers want to say they feared for their life — and that’s why they get an award?” Stokes said.
In Lynch’s case, police bodycam video was made public when Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe announced that his office would not be charging the officer. “Lynch took the actions that caused his death,” he said in May 2023, and “the officers reacted to the aggressiveness of Lynch throughout that episode.”