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.”
In their lawsuit, the family says Lynch repeatedly told officers to “get out,” and informed them he was trying to clean to avoid a new plague. He then shouted, “I’m not going anywhere near you,” and went back to his bedroom and closed the door.
The officers then followed him and opened his bedroom door.
Thompson “immediately pulled out a taser weapon and aimed it at Brandon after opening the door despite Brandon not making any threats,” according to the suit, adding that the officer then “pulled his firearm and aimed it at Brandon less than fifteen seconds after pulling his taser,” in actions that could be seen in the bodycam video.
Officers then told Lynch he was under arrest as he became “increasingly agitated and asked the officers to leave his house multiple times,” according to the suit. When the officers “started to back down the hallway,” Lynch followed them to an upstairs living room, where the situation escalated.
“Throughout the interaction, the officers escalated the situation by pointing guns, shouting commands, and threatening Brandon,” the suit said. “Crisis intervention training teaches that these tactics exacerbate the situation and are counterproductive in addressing a person in mental health crisis.”
The officers stood at the threshold of the home’s front door, roughly 15 feet from Lynch, while he paced the living room. In the bodycam video, Lynch says, “What did I do? I didn’t do anything. Get out of my house,” as officers repeatedly tell him to put down his weapon and warn him if he takes one step forward, “I will shoot you.” A Taser is used on Lynch in the living room, but he appears unaffected. Lynch again says “get out of my house,” taking a couple of steps forward, at which point an officer opens fire, the video shows.
The family’s lawsuit says that additional officers arrived at that time.
“Thompson was not in danger at any point during the moments leading up to the time that he took Brandon’s life,” the family’s complaint says, and he “was not in danger of being harmed by Brandon because [Thompson] was standing at a safe distance outside of the striking zone and the front door was a barrier between” the officers and Lynch.
“Despite other officers being on the scene while these events unfolded,” the suit says, “none fired their weapon except” for Thompson.
An Olathe city spokesman referred questions to the Olathe Police Department, which declined to comment “due to the ongoing civil litigation.”
Thompson resigned from Olathe last year after five years on the force and was later hired by another police department in Washington state. He did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
The city filed a motion to have the family’s suit dismissed, saying Thompson’s “use of lethal force was objectively reasonable under the circumstance presented” and he “is entitled to qualified immunity,” a doctrine that can protect government officials, including police, from civil litigation when acting in their official duties.
Last fall, however, U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson ruled that “these allegations, accepted as true, state a plausible claim that Officer Thompson recklessly or deliberately brought about the need to use deadly force.”
Now, the judge has ordered both the city and the family to reach a resolution in the case, otherwise it could go to trial later this year, court records show. The family is seeking unspecified damages for pain and suffering as well as costs associated with Lynch’s death, including funeral expenses and medical care provided.
In a statement after the family’s suit was filed in May 2024, its lawyers said “the use of deadly force in a situation where non-lethal options were viable is not only unacceptable, but also a clear violation of Brandon Lynch’s rights.”
“This unfortunate event highlights the urgent need for reform in how law enforcement handles interactions with mentally ill individuals,” the lawyers said.
