Lieutenant Richard Gammill, 46 and a longtime Joplin Police Department officer, died on September 7, 1989 from medical complications traced to gunshot wounds he suffered in the line of duty nine years earlier. The wounds were sustained on May 22, 1980, when Sergeant Gammill responded to a report at the Howard Johnson’s Hotel on 3500 Rangeline Road.

Officers Jon Hubbard and Detective Larry Hopper first contacted a man, Michael McCall, who had claimed he’d been shot while driving on the interstate. McCall became uncooperative; when Gammill arrived to assist, McCall produced a .38-caliber handgun and opened fire, striking all three officers. The officers returned fire and Detective Hopper shot McCall dead at the scene. Gammill was hit in the upper left shoulder and the right mid-section of his back.

Gammill survived the initial encounter but over the ensuing years developed stress diabetes and other health problems attributed to the 1980 injuries, and those complications led to his death. Does anyone have additional details about Gammill’s service or the long-term care he received after the shooting?