OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — It's been five years since Overland Park Police Department Ofc. Mike Mosher was shot and killed while responding to a hit-and-run incident on Sunday, May 3, 2020.
The city of Overland Park is marking the anniversary with a public memorial, not far from the spot where it happened.
I recently sat down with Mike's father, Overland Park City Councilman Scott Mosher, to see what this passage of time means to him.
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"I've left the ribbon up because that's the original ribbon," Scott told me, pointing to a blue ribbon wrapped around a tree near the site where his son was killed. "I come here probably once a month; I drive by all the time."
You might say that for Scott, it’s five years of one-day-at-a-time moments.
"You know, the memories go on every day,” Scott said. “So five years is no different than any other day to me."
Scott Mosher exudes a sense of peace that is almost hard to believe. I’m a father, and I don’t know that I would be able to speak about losing a son the way he does.
"The human part of me misses him, of course,” Scott said. “But the father part of me says that what he did was not only to be proud of, but it was to model after. I think sometimes [of] what could he have accomplished, had he not been killed. I think he accomplished what the Lord wanted him to."
There’s a permanent plaque on the ground at a streetlight on 123rd Street in Overland Park. Scott also pointed out a faded spot in the road where he said the actual shooting happened.
Ofc. Mike Mosher was on his way to work that day, already in uniform, when he responded to an alleged hit-and-run. There, he met Phillip Carney.
Mike's body camera caught the exchange, including the moment Carney pulled a gun. The two men fatally shot one another.
Scott told me a couple of years ago he watches that video every year. I asked him if he planned to do so again on the fifth anniversary.
“Absolutely,” he said. “As a matter of fact, I probably do it more often, not to relive the experience but to hear his voice. It's the only place that I have his voice."
Scott also lost his wife about a year after Mike died.
He later forged a friendship with, of all people, Carney's parents. That friendship is still strong today.
"I look at it as ... we both lost a son that day,” Scott told me. “Our relationship has helped that. And I appreciate their relationship."
I sat down with all three parents a couple of years ago. The Carneys described the friendship they've built with the Mosher family.
"Anything is possible with God's mercy, that's what it's taught me," Paul Carney said. "God has taken this, and he's making a masterpiece out of it. I can't see it any other way."
Today, Scott Mosher is absolutely a different person. For one thing, he's on the Overland Park City Council, which he said his son asked him to pursue before he died.
But more importantly...
"What comes to mind is the forgiveness I have in my heart, the empathy that I have for others that I didn't have before," Scott said.
And he looks forward to the day that he'll see his son again.
"All we really have when someone passes is the memories that we have of them, and that's what keeps our heart quiet,” Scott said. “We're just here for a short time, in God's plan, and we'll be together again. I'm not saying it doesn't hurt. It does, but it's a manageable hurt based on the memories that we have of our loved ones."
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Overland Park Police Officer Mike Mosher was laid to rest Wednesday. He died in a shootout with a suspect on Sunday, May 3.
I also reached out to Paul and Julie Carney for their thoughts on the fifth anniversary.
They wrote:
"Today due to the mercy shown to us by the Mosher family we find less reason for anger. We are a little quicker to forgive. We try to pay it forward with Mercy for others when we can.
"We are thankful to God that Officer Mike was there on May 3rd to stop our son from hurting others. We mourn his loss and grieve for his family.
"I have written a letter to the President and sent copies to our 2 senators honoring Mike. In the letter I again ask for no immediate bail for those arrested under the influence of drugs or alcohol. They should at the very least be free of drugs and alcohol in their system and had some therapy for maybe 2 weeks-month. We believe this would have saved Mike’s life and our sons.
"We like the programs that are evolving that are instituting rehab for those arrested with mental health and/or addiction problems. With some people who are detained in Douglas County they aren’t always arrested, but put through the SIMS program that we learned about a couple of years ago when we were invited to the JOCO criminal justice advisory board. We think there is progress that will help protect police officers and help those with mental health problems and addictions.
"We also support the Welcome House which is a facility in KCMO that aids men in their recovery from addictions. They have done remarkable work for their clients. It was the only place our son did well for the longest amount of time.
"Without the mercy and forgiveness shown to us by the Mosher family and the counseling we received from our counselors, Jacque and Mike Moffitt, we probably would have been torn apart. We are grateful to all of them beyond words. We believe we have a merciful redeemer and we are at peace."
The city of Overland Park changed a section of 123rd Street, near where the shooting happened, to Mike Mosher Boulevard.
On Monday, May 5, the city will host a public memorial marking the five-year anniversary of Ofc. Mosher's death.
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