ROSEBUD, Mo. — Several communities across Missouri are mourning the loss of a protector, husband, father and friend.
Detective Sgt. Mason Griffith died after he was shot and killed at a Casey's gas station on Sunday night on Missouri Highway 19 in Hermann.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol and Hermann Police Department took the man suspected of shooting Griffith and another police officer, Adam Sullentrup, into custody.
They said 35-year-old Kenneth Lee Simpson is the suspect.
Griffith and Officer Sullentrup were transported to Mercy Hospital in Creve Coeur. This is where Griffith died, and where Sullentrup is still in critical condition.
Griffith leaves behind his wife and two children in the town of Rosebud, Missouri, with a population of only 400. It’s a small place that people there now say feels even smaller, with Griffith gone.
“Mason was just a great guy," friend, community leader and business owner Angie Clancy said.
Clancy is one of those 400 people with a hole in her heart.
"He was everything to everyone. He protected this town, he defended everyone in the town," she said.
She and all of Rosebud are mourning the loss of him now.
“It just left a smile on your heart because you knew he was protecting you and watching over," she said. "You could call him at any time and he would be there for you."
Clancy said, as their chief, he was a protector, but he was so much more.
“He’s just directed our town in such a fabulous way that the growth has been wonderful," she said.
She said he was a community man, a friend and a person who stepped up in all aspects of life.
“Everyone has been calling me just shocked at a loss for words and unable to process it all honestly," she said.
And so, in the little town of Rosebud, Clancy said he helped it grow.
“He always had an idea or something to bloom from," she said.
Now, a piece of him will be planted in Rosebud forever.
“We’re a small little town, we have a couple speeding tickets and that’s about it, so this really rocks our world," she said.
The community is hosting a vigil for Griffith on Tuesday at 7 p.m.