Kansas Honors 4 Fallen Officers, Local Heroes at 2026 Valor Awards
McPherson Police Chief Mikel Golden presides over annual ceremony as president of KACP
MULVANE, Kan. — The Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police honored four officers killed in the line of duty in 2025 and dozens of others at its annual Valor Awards banquet May 6 in Mulvane. The ceremony, presided over by KACP President and McPherson Police Chief Mikel Golden, drew law enforcement personnel and community leaders from across the state. McPherson Mayor Jim Loving was among those in attendance.
The Chief's Awards, recognizing the supreme sacrifice of officers who died in the line of duty, went to Deputy Brandon Gaede of the Phillips County Sheriff's Office, Deputy Elijah Ming of the Wyandotte County Sheriff's Office, Officer Hunter Simoncic of the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department and Sgt. Scott Heimann of the Hays Police Department. Gaede was killed June 27 in Phillipsburg, Ming on July 26 responding to a domestic incident, Simoncic on Aug. 26 while deploying stop sticks, and Heimann on Sept. 28 responding to a domestic violence call.
The response to the Heimann shooting drew the largest contingent of Citizen Journal coverage-area honorees. Twelve Hays Police officers received the Gold Award for uncommon valor in the line of duty: Sgt. Phillip Gage, Lindsey Clayton, Dakota Reese, Cody Wolf, Caleb C. Koehn, Clay Robinson, Tactical Medic Jesse Hermosillo, Aaron F. Larson, David Gillan, Derick Nordell, Kyle Jones and Pat Kelly. Hays firefighter Braden T. Parke and Ellis County Sheriff's Deputy Doug Schulte also received Gold Awards, and the Hays Police Department's Special Situation Response Team received the Unit Citation – Gold.
Other Citizen Journal coverage-area honorees included Great Bend Police Officer Paul Millard and Reno County Deputy Marcus Schneider, who each received the Gold Award, and Hutchinson Police Officer Lane Hammond, who received the Silver Award for actions that contributed to saving a life. The Harvey County Sheriff's Office, Hutchinson Police Department and Reno County Sheriff's Office were among the agencies recognized with Bronze Unit Citations as part of the multi-agency Property Crimes Reduction Task Force.
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