Governor's Medal 2021 Class, awarded on Sept. 7, 2022

Justin W. Bryant, Michael W. Deck, Kyle R. Embrey, Kristin N. Engle, Dawn M. Neuman, John F. O’Neill IV, Shanna M. Ostendorf, and Robert J. Tosie, St. Louis County Police Department

On the evening of July 15, 2021, the St. Louis County Police Department’s Highway Safety Unit was in a restaurant on Bagnell Dam Boulevard in Lake Ozark. The officers were in Lake Ozark to attend the annual Law Enforcement Traffic Safety Advisory Council. The officers were off duty, in civilian attire, and eating dinner when they heard gunfire coming from across the street. With their badges displayed and guns drawn, the officers ran toward the gunfire. Shouting that they were members of law enforcement, the officers took up strategic positions using parked vehicles as cover. Shots were being fired in several directions as rival outlaw motorcycle gangs engaged in a shootout. The officers were unable to discharge their weapons because of the number of gang members in the vicinity and several shooting victims lying on the ground. The officers instructed one shooting victim to crawl between vehicles to a position where they could provide aid until EMS responded to the scene. Once local officers arrived and the gunfire ended, the St. Louis County officers assisted in securing the scene, at the request of the local law enforcement. This included detaining possible suspects, gang members, and witnesses. Before the officers left the scene, it was determined that five outlaw motorcycle gang members had been shot, one of them fatally. No bystanders were injured during the shooting. While off duty, in civilian attire, and with no ballistic protection, Sgt. Shanna M. Ostendorf, Sgt. Kristin N. Engle, Sgt. Kyle R. Embrey, and Officers Justin W. Bryant, Michael W. Deck, Dawn M. Neuman, John F. O’Neill IV, and Robert J. Tosie had courageously run toward chaotic gunfire from multiple directions and acted to protect civilian lives in a busy entertainment area. Shanna M. Ostendorf has since been promoted to lieutenant. Dawn M. Neuman has been promoted to Sergeant.