Governor's Medal 2024 Class, awarded on Sept. 23, 2025

Shane Engelhardt, Jason Karr, Michael Schultz, Matthew Smart, Michael Bainbridge, Jesse Berendzen, Lisa Layton-Brinker and Justin Bryan, Jefferson City Fire Department

At about 2:40 a.m. on Nov. 30, 2024, a gas leak led to a house explosion and fire, and residents and pets trapped in the collapsed structure. The Jefferson City Fire Department’s Squad 2, consisting of Captain Schultz, Driver/Engineer Engelhardt and Firefighter Bryan, was first to arrive to a chaotic and rapidly evolving scene – the crumbled structure, was highly unstable and burning. Because of the conditions, the department’s Special Operations and Rescue Team (SORT) was activated. Captain Smart, Driver/Engineer Michael Bainbridge, Driver/Engineer Jesse Berendzen, Driver/Engineer Lisa Layton-Brinker and Driver/Engineer Jason Karr joined with Schultz, Engelhardt and Bryan and initiated a challenging highly technical rescue operation while simultaneously working to suppress the fire. Three victims had been able to escape from the ruins themselves; the JCFD team and Jefferson City Police officers assisted a fourth victim out of the rubble, but the final victim could not be located. Eventually, the team made verbal contact with the victim. He described his location as beneath two dogs that were also trapped. Once the dogs had been extricated, the victim, who was buried in the basement, signaled his location by how well he could see a firefighter’s flashlight. The rescue operation would require the team to perform extensive cutting and complex tunneling operations to reach and then extricate the victim. Over the next three hours, the team navigated the difficulties that came with an extremely wobbly structure and unsteady ground, a sustained gas-fed fire, environmental hazards along with reassuring a trapped victim who had suffered burns and was highly hypothermic. The team persevered despite the many obstacles and was cheered when the final victim that they rescued was healthy enough to visit with them several weeks after the valiant rescue effort. Jason Karr and Shane Engelhardt have been promoted to captain.

John R. Henry, Cary F. Porter, Brett D. Tappendorf, Kristopher “Blake” Geren and Peter D. Hummel, Missouri State Highway Patrol

On Jan. 24, 2024, a suspect allegedly attempted to abduct a woman in Quincy, Ill., and then fled Illinois law enforcement into Missouri. Hannibal Police and the Missouri State Highway Patrol picked up the pursuit. Patrol Field Training Officer Master Sergeant Henry and Trooper Geren began pursuing the suspect’s vehicle on U.S. Highway 36 in Shelby County, where it struck a tire deflation device deployed by Corporal Porter near Clarence, Mo. The vehicle exited at Missouri 151 and traveled down an embankment where it became disabled. As Henry and Geren approached, the suspect fired a round from a high-powered rifle, striking the driver side of the windshield. Geren, who was driving, was struck in the left shoulder by bullet fragments. Corporal Tappendorf and Trooper Hummel maneuvered their Patrol vehicles around Henry and Geren’s vehicle and tactically positioned them to provide cover from the gunman. The gunman then fired a second round from his high-powered rifle that struck Tappendorf’s vehicle. Tappendorf and Hummel exited their vehicles and returned fire with their Patrol rifles as the suspect continued firing. The gunman sustained multiple gunshot wounds and subsequently surrendered. Three rifles and a shotgun and additional ammunition were recovered inside the gunman’s vehicle. Trooper Geren was transported from the scene and has made a full recovery and returned to duty. He, Master Sergeant Henry, Corporal Tappendorf, Trooper Hummel and Corporal Porter each responded heroically to a highly dangerous situation in which a heavily armed violent criminal targeted officers using lethal force. The officers worked in tandem to communicate and protect one another, and in so doing removed a menacing criminal who threatened the community.