SPRINGFIELD, Mo.- Springfield Police Officer Christopher Walsh died March 15, 2020, after responding to a shooting at a Kum & Go on E. Chestnut Expressway.

To honor Officer Walsh, the Springfield Police Department will be holding a one-year remembrance ceremony at 2 p.m.

During the ceremony, a memorial monument with Walsh’s name engraved will be unveiled. Police Chief Paul Williams says Officer Walsh died a hero and that his courage should be an example to us all.

The Springfield Police Foundation will also be honoring Officer Walsh by offering “brother in blue” bracelets. The Foundation partnered with Onie and Sky, a Springfield-based small business, to make the bracelets. Funds raised will go towards helping the Springfield Police Foundation.

On March 15, 2020, Officer Walsh and Officer Josiah Overton were the first SPD officers to respond to the gas station for reports of a car crash. When the two arrived, they were met with gunshots coming from the store.

Police say the suspect, 31-year-old Joaquin Roman crashed into the Kum & Go, entered the store, shot four people inside, then shot the two responding officers. Also killed were Troy Rapp, Shannon Perkins, and Matthew Hicks. Springfield officer Josiah Overton was shot and injured, along with another victim. Roman killed himself at the scene.

Officer Walsh was 32 and is survived by his wife and daughter. Walsh, a Springfield native, began serving for SPD in 2016 and was an Army veteran and active in the army reserves for ten years.

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