On a December morning in 1978, Kansas City Police Officer John J. O’Sullivan, 34, was sitting in his patrol car at 68th and Myrtle filling out reports when another vehicle pulled alongside. After a brief conversation the man produced a handgun and fired a single fatal shot into O’Sullivan’s chest. The bullet pierced his lung and severed major arteries; he died at the scene. A nearby telephone company employee witnessed the shooting and used the officer’s radio to call for help.

O’Sullivan had emigrated from Ireland and became a U.S. citizen in 1971, the year he joined the Kansas City Police Department. He was a husband and father of two young daughters, ages five and three. The investigation led to the arrest of 29-year-old Lawrence Thomas; prosecutors said the killing was revenge for a prior arrest for PCP and for O’Sullivan testifying in a drug trial weeks earlier. Thomas was charged, tried, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison.

If anyone knew Officer O’Sullivan, his family, or the events around 68th and Myrtle that morning, what recollections or details can be shared?