OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — It's been more than seven months since Overland Park police officer Mike Mosher was shot and killed on duty during a shootout with a hit-and-run suspect.
While there's still a small memorial at the spot where he died, something much more permanent could soon be in place.
Mosher’s daughter Tyler, 13, says she still visits the spot on 123rd Street where her father was shot.
"It's nice to see all these flowers and know that the neighbors are keeping this up and keeping it looking nice,” Tyler Mosher said. “So it's very good to just come to the place."
The Mosher family says they are still getting messages from the police department, as well as meals, challenge coins and patches from all over the country.
"It seems like nobody has forgotten," Tyler said.
Forgetting Mike Mosher’s tragic death in May became even harder when Tyler spoke at her father's funeral.
"I want to make it very clear that my dad is not gone,” Tyler told the socially distanced audience at the service, as well as the thousands watching online. “He's just not here. His walking, talking body might not be here, but what made him Mike, what made him loving and selfless is still here."
Tyler told 41 Action News that she didn't read that speech out loud for her family until the day of the funeral. But the power of her speech was still felt far outside Kansas City.
"I recently traveled to Phoenix,” Tyler said. “And I was at the airport, and a TSA agent recognized me with my mask on. And she started crying and saying that she watches the news with her mom, and how I was so inspiring."
The Overland Park Police Department didn't want those powerful goodbyes, or the memorial that neighbors built on 123rd Street, to be the last thing the city heard of Officer Mike Mosher.
"It really rocked us to the core,” OPPD Chief Frank Donchez said. “I think there are still officers out there that are struggling with Mike's death.”
So the department pushed to change the section of 123rd Street between Metcalf Avenue and Blue Valley Parkway, right in front of OPPD headquarters, to Officer Mike Mosher Boulevard. Overland Park’s City Planning Commission has already given it the green light, and the City Council is expected to approve the name change in January.
Scott Mosher, Mike’s father, who is a retired police officer, says the name change is an honor for his whole family.
“Going by that street, seeing that, I hope they understand that this was a great man,” Mosher said. “And was a man that did a lot for them, and for the community, and that they'll recognize and seek out why it's named what it's named."
The design is still in the works, but Donchez said the street signs won't look like others around the city. It's not clear when they'll be in place. There are no business addresses on that section of 123rd Street, so no one will have to make any changes once it's approved.
