Office John O'Sullivan was shot & killed during an ambush while sitting in his vehicle.

On December 12, 1978, Officer Sullivan was sitting in his patrol car at 68th and Myrtle at approximately 10 am, filling out a report, when a man who he had previously arrested for possession of PHP, and approached him and, after a short conversation, shot him in the chest. A telephone company workman witnessed the incident and radioed for help on the patrol car's radio. Lawrence Thomas, 29, was arrested and chargecd with murder. Officer O'Sullivan testified against Thomas in a 1977 drug trial in a case where he had arrested Thomas for possession of PCP. Officer O'Sullivan also answered disturbance calls at Thomas' house twice in the week before the shooting. The suspect was convicted but has since been released from prison.

Officer O'Sullivan was born in Ireland and became a United States citizen in 1971 - the year he joined the Kansas City Police Department. He was survived by his wife and two young daughters. Interred: Mount Moriah Cemetery.