Officers Feloniously Killed
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This page provides information about duly sworn city, university and college, county, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement officers who were feloniously killed in the line of duty during 2006 and met certain other criteria.
Overview
- In 2006, 48 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed as a result of 47 separate incidents.
- 22 of the 48 officers feloniously killed were employed by city police departments. Of these victims, 8 were members of law enforcement agencies in cities of 250,000 or more in population.
- Line-of-duty deaths occurred in 25 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The state that had the most felonious deaths of officers was California, where 6 officers died in 2006. (Based on Table 1.)
- In the 10-year span of 1997 through 2006, 562 officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty.
More information about these topics (including annual totals from 1997 to 2006) is provided in Tables 1, 2, 15, 16, and 28.
Victim Profile
- 38 years old—the average age of the officers who died from felonious attacks.
- 11 years—the slain officers’ average length of law enforcement service.
- 45 of the officers killed were male.
- 38 of the victim officers were white; 5 were black; 1 was Asian/Pacific Islander; and 1 was an American Indian/Alaskan Native. The race of 3 officers was not reported.
More information about these topics is provided in Tables 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11.
Circumstances
- 12 officers died in 2006 as a result of felonious attacks during arrest situations.
- 10 officers were fatally assaulted when ambushed.
- 8 officers were killed when responding to disturbance calls (e.g., bar fights, family quarrels), and 8 officers were killed while conducting traffic pursuits or stops.
More information about this topic (including a complete breakdown of the types of circumstances in which officers were feloniously killed) is provided in Tables 19, 21, 22, 23, and 31.
Assignments
- 27 of the victim officers who died in the line of duty in 2006 were on assigned vehicle patrol.
- 3 of the officers fatally attacked were off duty but acting in an official capacity.
- 18 of the slain officers were assigned to other duties (e.g., special assignments, undercover) at the time of the incidents.
- 27 of the officers killed were assisted at the time of the attack.
More about this topic is provided in Tables 15, 17, 23, 24, 25, and 26.
Weapons
- 46 of the 48 officers who died from felonious attacks in 2006 were murdered with firearms. Of these, 36 were slain with handguns. (A breakdown of the types of firearms used in these slayings is provided in Table 27.)
- 2 officers were killed with vehicles that were used as weapons.
- 11 officers fired their own weapons during the incidents that led to their deaths; an additional 7 officers attempted to use their own weapons.
- 32 incidents involving firearms occurred when the distance between the offender and the victim was 10 feet or less. Of these, 24 officers were 5 feet or less from their attackers when shot.
More information about these topics is provided in Tables 12, 27, 28, 29, 31, 33, and 34.
Body armor
- 26 of the 46 officers killed with firearms were wearing body armor when they were fatally wounded.
- Of the 26 officers who were wearing body armor (based on Table 36):
15 officers suffered fatal gunshot wounds to the head.
7 officers were mortally wounded after receiving shots to the torso. (A breakdown of where bullets circumvented or penetrated body armor is provided in Table 38.)
4 officers succumbed to gunshot wounds to the neck/throat.
More information about this topic (including annual totals from 1997 through 2006) is provided in Tables 35, 36, 37, 38, and 39.
Regional and outlying area breakdowns
Of the 48 officers who died in 2006 as a result of felonious attacks:
- 22 officers were employed in the South.
- 11 officers were employed in the West.
- 7 officers were employed in the Northeast.
- 6 officers were employed in the Midwest.
- 2 officers were employed in Puerto Rico.
More information about this topic (including annual totals from 1997 to 2006) is provided in Tables 1, 21, 22, 29, and 30.
Months, days, and times of incidents
- More officers (7) died in August from felonious attacks than in any other month of 2006. During February, May, and October, 6 officers were feloniously killed in each month.
- In 2006, three days of the week (Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday) had the highest number of incidents that resulted in the deaths of officers with 11 occurring on each day (a total of 33).
- The fewest number of officers (2) died from felonious assaults that occurred on Sunday.
- More officers (7) were fatally injured in assaults that happened from 10:01 p.m. to midnight than during any other 2-hour time period.
More information about these topics (including annual totals from 1997 to 2006) is provided in Tables 3, 4, 5, 17, and 18.
Profile of alleged known assailants
In 2006, 55 alleged offenders were identified. Of those offenders, the following characteristics are known:
- 29 years old—the average age of the alleged offenders.
- 5 feet 10 inches/176 pounds—the average height and weight of the alleged offenders.
- 54 of the alleged assailants were male.
- 29 of the alleged offenders were black; 25 were white.
- Of the alleged assailants identified, 42 had previous criminal arrests, including 11 who had been arrested for assaulting an officer or resisting arrest.
- 15 of the 55 alleged offenders were under judicial supervision (e.g., probation, parole) at the time of the fatal incident.
More information about these topics is provided in Tables 40, 41, 42, 43, and 44.
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