Department of Public Safety News Release

Keaton L. Ebersold, a Trooper with the Missouri State Highway Patrol, has been selected as the Missouri State Employee of the Month for July 2019. 

Ebersold, who is assigned to Troop H, in St. Joseph, was eligible for the honor after being chosen as Department of Public Safety June 2019 Sworn Employee of the Month for his decisive and courageous actions.

On Jan. 22, 2019, Ebersold responded to a possible rolling domestic case on I-29 in Atchison County. Rock Port Police Chief Shannon Sherwood was already at the scene. A truck driver exited a truck with his hands up, saying a woman in the truck cab forced him at gunpoint to drive north after he had stopped to assist a motorist at a traffic crash.

Ebersold went to the passenger side; Chief Sherwood approached the driver side. The woman was in the sleeper berth and had her left arm around a small child. Her right hand held a flare gun pointed at the child’s head. The cab's doors were locked. Sherwood and Ebersold broke out the windows and opened the doors to attempt to speak with the woman. She pointed the flare gun at Ebersold before pointing it back toward the child.

Then, as Chief Sherwood spoke to the suspect, the woman lowered the flare gun slightly. Ebersold immediately lunged inside the vehicle and wrapped his left hand around the hammer of the flare gun to lock it in place. He gained control of the flare gun and threw it out of the truck.

After a struggle, the woman was taken into custody and the child was safely removed from the truck. The suspect was not injured. Ebersold sustained minor cuts to his hand during the altercation.

Trooper Ebersold, who has been a member of the Patrol for four and one-half years, is assigned to Atchison and Holt counties.

Congratulations to Trooper Ebersold for his decisive action and for representing the state so well! 

For more information, call 573-751-5432 or e-mail mike.oconnell@dps.mo.gov