Type of Officer: Kansas Highway Patrol
Jurisdiction: Topeka
County: Shawnee
Death Date: 10/2/1973
Added to Memorial: 1987
Circumstances of Death: Gunshot
Trooper Thornton stopped to investigate a hitchhiker on I-70 east of Topeka, unaware that the man was wanted in New York for murder. The hitchhiker shot and killed Thornton, and was himself shot and killed by other officers after he refused to surrender.
Panel: 4