Dan De Kraai, 35 years old, was accidentally shot during a training exercise on September 15, 2010. Members of the St. Joseph Police Department and Buchanan County Sheriff's Department were participating in training for the agencies' combined Special Response Team. Team members conducted several hostage rescue scenarios inside the vacant Neely School located at 1909 South 12th Street.

The training included using firearms that had been converted to fire plastic training rounds that are not considered lethal ammunition to provide a more realistic training experience. During a break from the training, Officer De Kraai and a second team member left the training area, switching out their training weapons for their duty weapon.

Upon returning to the training area, Officer De Kraai asked to be struck with one of the non lethal plastic rounds so he would know what to expect during training. Another team member agreed to conduct the demonstration. The team member drew his firearm and fatally shot Officer De Kraai, forgetting he had switched out his weapon. Officer De Kraai was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his wound. His death was ruled to be accidental.

Officer De Kraai served with the department for five years. He served on the Special Response Team, was a Field Training Officer, a Crime Scene Technician, and was an instructor at Missouri Western Law Enforcement Academy. He was survived by his wife and daughter.