On May 23rd, 1996, Dayton Police Officer Jason K. Grossnickle was reporting for duty when he suffered critical injuries from getting shot.

He and a fellow officer had just crossed the 3rd District Headquarters parking lot and were nearing its back door. That’s when a man—suspected of shooting another man and stealing his truck—drove it right up to them, jumped out, and without any hesitation opened fire with a handgun. After hitting both officers the suspect came in close, put the gun to the back of Officer Grossnickle’s head, and fired again. The wounded officer and the others returned fire and hit the suspect.

Jason died of his injuries soon afterwards. The wounded officer survived. The shooter died an hour later.

Officer Grossnickle was 25 years old at the time of his death, and had served with the Dayton Police Department for just three months. He was survived by his father, mother, and sister.

Jason was a third-generation police officer, whose father was a Dayton Police Detective. He and the wounded officer had graduated together from the police academy. Before joining the force, he had attended North Central Bible College and the University of Cincinnati before graduating from Wright State University. Jason was widely known for always putting his concern for others above all else, and he was a very active member of his church.