Note: Occasionally, the Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Program is unable to publish summaries concerning some officers who are feloniously killed in the line of duty. These situations may stem from insufficient information, gag orders that are issued by the courts, or other unusual circumstances that may exist. Although written summaries of the deaths of three officers who were killed in 2009 are not included in this publication, all available information is included where applicable in the data tables.
At 5:45 p.m. on April 24, a chief investigator with the Headland Police Department was killed and a deputy sheriff with the Henry County Sheriff’s Office was injured during a disturbance call that turned into an ambush. Earlier in the day, a woman had pulled her vehicle into a store’s parking lot to get a signal to make a telephone call on her mobile phone. While she was sitting in her car, a man approached the automobile from the rear and fired a shot into the air from a shotgun he was carrying. The man told the woman to “keep her family close,” that “bad things” were going to happen, and that she needed to leave his property. The woman called her husband, and when he got off work around 4 p.m., the pair returned to the store’s parking lot and called police. A 38-year-old deputy sheriff, who had 14 years of law enforcement experience, and a reserve deputy were dispatched to the scene shortly before 5 p.m. When the deputy sheriff and reserve deputy arrived at the scene, the officers parked their police car near the home and exited the vehicle. The deputy sheriff went to the front of the home, and the reserve deputy went toward the rear of the vehicle. As the deputy sheriff approached the front door of the residence, the reserve deputy saw a man with a weapon come around the corner of the house. The reserve deputy yelled “gun,” and the deputy sheriff tried to turn toward the vehicle for cover. The armed man fired three rounds from a 12-gauge semiautomatic shotgun at the deputy sheriff, striking him in the head, neck, chest, back, and hands. The reserve deputy radioed that an officer was down and that he needed assistance. A 38-year-old chief investigator with the Headland Police Department and his partner responded to the call and stopped in the parking lot of a nearby store. The chief investigator, who had more than 16 years of law enforcement experience, exited the vehicle, retrieved his service weapon, and attempted to verbally engage the suspect. However, before the chief investigator could issue any commands to the suspect, the man fired an unknown number of rounds from a .280-caliber semiautomatic rifle at the chief investigator, who was wearing body armor. The rounds struck the chief investigator in the front of the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His partner and responding officers from the Quitman County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia and the Abbeville Police Department in Alabama engaged the 53-year-old suspect in a firefight, killing him. The suspect, who had a prior criminal record, may have had a mental disorder and had possibly stopped taking his medications. At the time of the publication, the injured deputy sheriff had not returned to duty.
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On September 24, just before 1 p.m., a 39-year-old deputy sheriff with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office died from wounds incurred while performing a traffic stop. The deputy, with nearly 3 years of law enforcement experience, and his partner were on patrol when they spotted a vehicle with the driver behaving suspiciously. The deputies ran a check on the license plate and found that the license plate and vehicle information did not match. The deputy and a trainee partner, who was driving, pulled over the vehicle. The driver of the vehicle, the sole occupant, turned into the driveway of a residence, and the officers followed. Suddenly, the driver made a u-turn in the yard and attempted to pass the patrol car on the passenger side in order to flee. The deputy was stepping from the passenger side of the cruiser, and the suspect accelerated his vehicle, striking the victim deputy and pinning him under the vehicle. The victim deputy’s partner drew her sidearm and fired two rounds, after which the man surrendered. The 37-year-old assailant, who had a prior criminal record and was on parole at the time of the incident, was taken into custody by the victim’s partner and later charged with Capital Murder. The victim deputy was taken to a local hospital where he subsequently died.
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A 26-year-old police officer with the Mobile Police Department died from a gunshot wound sustained while investigating a disturbance call around 11:30 p.m. on June 2. The officer, with nearly 2 years of law enforcement experience, was off duty but encountered the disturbance at the apartment complex where he lived and where he also served as courtesy officer. In his official capacity, the officer investigated the dispute and initially dispersed the parties involved in the altercation. Shortly after the incident, one of the parties involved returned to the location of the dispute armed with a .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun. Witnesses reported that the individual seemed extremely agitated. The officer approached a vehicle in which one of the original parties involved in the dispute was sitting to ask them to leave the premises. As the officer approached the passenger side of the vehicle, the armed man, who was concealed on the other side of the vehicle, stood up and shot through the open windows of the vehicle, striking the officer in the upper torso/chest area. The 18-year-old alleged assailant then fled the scene in the vehicle. He was pursued by responding officers and was apprehended about 1 hour after the incident. The victim officer was rushed to a nearby hospital by emergency personnel where he succumbed to his injuries a few minutes after midnight on June 3. The alleged assailant was charged with Capital Murder, Altering the Identity of a Firearm, Third-Degree Receiving Stolen Property, and Second-Degree Possession of Marijuana.
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A 33-year-old police officer with the Pelham Police Department was fatally wounded during a traffic stop at 11:50 p.m. on December 3. The veteran officer, who had more than 10 years of law enforcement experience, stopped a driver for speeding in a construction zone. Approximately 10 minutes later, dispatch received a call reporting that an officer was lying on the road in that area. Dispatch attempted to contact the officer by his radio, but they were unable to reach him. Several back-up officers arrived on the scene and found the victim officer with a gunshot wound to the front of his head. The back-up officers immediately called for emergency medical personnel, who arrived shortly thereafter and transported the victim officer to a local hospital, where in the early morning hours of December 4, he was pronounced dead from a wound inflicted by a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun. Investigating officers identified a suspect in the slaying of the victim officer from information that was obtained from the officer’s ticket book found at the scene of the shooting. The partially completed speeding ticket contained the man’s name, birth date, and a description of the suspect’s vehicle. A region-wide announcement was broadcast to be on the lookout for the suspect and his vehicle. Officers from the Alabama Bureau of Investigation arrived on the scene and reviewed footage from the victim officer’s dash-mounted camera that showed the victim officer approaching the driver’s side of the suspect’s car, speaking to the driver, and returning to the patrol car. The officer approached the suspect’s vehicle a second time and engaged in another conversation with the driver. As the officer looked down at his ticket book, the man produced a handgun. The white flash of an apparent gunshot appeared on the video, and the victim officer fell to the ground. Police from nearby Trussville, who had heard the description of the murder suspect and the vehicle he was driving, recognized the description of the car as one belonging to the brother of a Trussville police officer. Meanwhile, in Birmingham, the Birmingham Police Department received a telephone call about a man who was trying to break into vehicles and subsequently was seen getting into a truck driven by an unidentified individual. Birmingham officers issued an alert for the truck, and an officer in Trussville reported seeing a truck matching this description speeding through Trussville approximately 1 hour after the shooting incident in Pelham. Officers from Birmingham subsequently located an abandoned car matching the description of the shooting suspect’s vehicle. It appeared to have blood on the driver’s side doors and roof. Shortly thereafter, the suspect, in a truck driven by his brother, approached cruisers from the Hoover Police Department parked at an exit by the side of the highway. As police officers apprehended the man, he stated, “I’m the guy you’re looking for.” After a tip from the suspect’s brother, police found the weapon used in the murder of the victim officer in the glove compartment of the truck. The 29-year-old suspect, who had no previous criminal history, was charged with Capital Murder of a Law Enforcement Officer.
The 50-year-old assistant chief of the Plumerville Police Department was shot and killed around 6:20 a.m. on June 19 while attempting a traffic stop of a reported stolen vehicle. The assistant chief, who had 27 years of law enforcement experience, had stopped a truck along a local portion of a national highway. He was approaching the vehicle when the suspect fired a single shot from a .22-caliber revolver, fatally wounding the assistant chief in the upper left chest. The assistant chief returned fire, striking the tailgate of the truck before the suspect fled. The victim officer succumbed to his wounds at the scene shortly thereafter. The 22-year-old alleged assailant, who had a prior criminal record and was on probation at the time of the incident, was arrested approximately 15 miles from the shooting. He was charged with Capital Felony Murder, Felon in Possession, and Theft by Receiving.
Four officers from the Oakland Police Department were killed and another of its officers was injured during a traffic stop and related tactical situation on March 21. Shortly after 1 p.m., a 40-year-old sergeant, who had 18 years of law enforcement experience, advised that he was making a traffic stop. A 41-year-old officer, who had 10 years of law enforcement experience, had just cleared a traffic stop one block away and drove to the sergeant’s location. The lone occupant of the vehicle that the sergeant had stopped presented false identification. The sergeant and the officer were walking toward the vehicle on the driver’s side when the occupant of the vehicle opened fire with a .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun through the open window on the driver’s side. Both officers, though wearing protective body armor, were each fatally struck in the neck. The victim officers were transported to a local hospital where they succumbed to their injuries. A SWAT team was assembled to search for the suspect, who had fled from the scene. At 3:02 p.m., the tactical team entered the apartment of the suspect’s sister, where they had tracked him. As a 43 year old sergeant with 13 years of law enforcement experience and a 35 year old sergeant with 9 years of law enforcement experience entered the apartment, they were shot by the suspect with a 7.62x39 mm semiautomatic rifle. Both victim sergeants were wearing body armor, and both were shot fatally in the fronts of their heads. The suspect retreated to a rear bedroom. As a 33-year-old sergeant, who had 11 years of law enforcement experience, entered that room, he was shot in the front upper torso/chest above his protective vest. He was transported to a local hospital where he was treated and released. The other sergeants were transported to the hospital where they were pronounced dead. The 26-year-old suspect, who had an extensive criminal history and had a parolee at large warrant against him, was shot and killed during the incident.
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At 9 p.m. on July 23, a 30-year-old agent with the U.S. Border Patrol, Campo Station, was shot and killed while investigating suspicious persons or circumstances in Campo. The agent, who had 11 years of law enforcement experience, was patrolling alone and had radioed that he had spotted multiple individuals traveling north in Mexico toward the United States border. Other agents working in the vicinity lost radio contact with the agent and subsequently heard gunshots. Responding agents went to the last known location of the agent and found his vehicle, its lights on and the motor still running. They found the victim agent a short distance away in the brush. He had been shot multiple times in the head and torso from both the front and rear. The victim agent’s service handgun, radio, handcuffs, and personal mobile phone were all missing. On August 14, a 16-year-old male was arrested for the murder and charged with Murder of a Federal Officer Committed in Perpetration of a Robbery and Aiding and Abetting. That individual subsequently pled guilty and was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison.
A sergeant with the Montrose Police Department was killed and two officers were wounded at 9:40 p.m., July 25, when they were responding to a domestic incident. The 41-year-old sergeant, who had 19 years of law enforcement experience, was called to a home at 8:30 p.m. to assist two officers who were dealing with a person under the influence of alcohol. The person had barricaded himself in a detached garage. The sergeant, along with the intoxicated man’s family members, negotiated with the man for more than an hour. When negotiations failed, the sergeant decided to forcibly enter the garage in order to arrest the man. Family members assured the officers that though there were weapons in the garage, the man inside did not have a key to the locked container, which they called a “gun safe.” Upon the police breaking through the door, however, the man began shooting at them with a 12-gauge semiautomatic shotgun. The assailant fired four times. All three law enforcement members were wearing body armor; however, the victim sergeant was fatally struck in the upper torso when a bullet entered the armhole of his protective vest. The other two officers were wounded. One, who was 53 years old and had 18 years of law enforcement experience, was shot in the left leg. The other, who was 24 years old and had 2 years of law enforcement experience, was struck in both legs. Although these two officers returned fire, the 52-year-old offender was not hit and retreated to a bathroom in the garage where he committed suicide. What had been described as a “gun safe” was a gun locker made of sheet metal. The shooter had used hand tools in the garage to peel the metal away and had gained access to the weapons inside. The shooter, who had prior mental disorders, knew the sergeant through a law enforcement relationship. He had a prior criminal record that included a violent crime conviction and was on probation at the time of the incident.
Two officers with the Georgetown Police Department were shot around 6:40 p.m. on September 1 while investigating a complaint of shots being fired at a local fast-food restaurant. A 29-year-old patrol officer, who had nearly 6 years of law enforcement experience, was fatally shot in the incident, and a 31-year-old corporal, who had nearly 7 years of law enforcement experience, sustained minor injuries. The officers were on patrol together when they heard a broadcast providing a description of a vehicle occupied by the suspects involved in the reported shooting incident, which allegedly also involved a robbery. According to later reports, one or more of the suspects had robbed a drug dealer and then had fired rounds at the dealer before fleeing the scene with an undisclosed amount of marijuana. The patrol officer and the corporal, both of whom were wearing body armor, spotted the suspects’ vehicle in front of them. The corporal, who was driving the patrol car, began to pursue the vehicle, which was occupied by three men. The pursuit ended when the suspects’ vehicle came to an abrupt stop, and the corporal stopped alongside it. A passenger in the rear driver’s side of the suspects’ vehicle shot through his partially opened window with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun. The round entered the officers’ passenger side window and struck the patrol officer in the face, killing him. The corporal, unaware that his partner was struck, received a minor injury to his neck from shrapnel from the round. In spite of his injury, he exited the vehicle and began a foot pursuit of the driver, who had gotten out of the suspects’ vehicle and was fleeing the scene. The driver managed to escape, however, and when the corporal returned to the police vehicle, it was only then that he realized that his partner had been shot, and he called for assistance. One of the suspects had remained in the car at the original location and was apprehended; one of the other suspects, the alleged shooter who had killed the officer, had also fled the scene. He was tracked to an area east of the scene, and several assisting officers converged there. The alleged assailant was found inside a residence, and when the officers entered the dwelling, they took the 22-year-old man into custody and charged him with First-Degree Murder of a Law Enforcement Officer, three counts of Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Felony, Burglary, Reckless Endangering, and Resisting Arrest. The man, who had in his possession the gun used in the shooting of the patrol officer, had a prior criminal record including violent crime, drugs, and weapons violations. The driver of the vehicle turned himself in approximately 3 days later.
Two deputy sheriffs, both aged 44, with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office were shot and killed while attempting to make an arrest in Crestview around 12:50 p.m. on April 25. About 10:20 a.m., other deputies from the same office responded to a local hospital regarding a report of domestic violence. The victim told the deputies that her husband had beaten her, and she gave the officers a description of his truck and also indicated that she believed he would be at their apartment or at a local shooting range. Around noon, the victim deputies, both of whom were wearing body armor, located the suspect’s truck at the shooting range and saw the man standing behind the truck. The deputies, who were driving separate patrol cars, parked several feet behind the truck with the patrol cars facing opposite directions. Witnesses said the deputies approached the man and ordered him to get on the ground, but the man refused. As the deputies continued to give the man commands to get on the ground, one of the deputies pulled out a conducted energy device (CED). When the man continued to defy their orders, the deputy used the CED. The man fell to the ground, then immediately pulled out a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun and began shooting at the deputies. One of the deputies took cover at the front of one of the cruisers, and the assailant positioned himself at the back of the same cruiser. In an exchange of gunfire, the deputy at the front of the cruiser was hit in the shoulder. Despite the injury, the deputy (whose total years of law enforcement experience is unknown) was able to notify dispatchers that he was shot, and he continued to exchange gunfire. The shooter stepped away from the vehicle, approached the injured deputy, and shot him in the front of the head. The second deputy, who had more than 22 years of law enforcement experience, had taken cover but was out of view of any witnesses. At one point, someone at the shooting range saw the second deputy move to the back of the truck, and he attempted to take cover by jumping into the open passenger side door of the assailant’s vehicle. Witnesses then heard gunshots and saw the window from the open door shatter. The assailant walked around his truck and shut the passenger side door. He then walked around to the driver’s side, got in, and sped off on a local highway. A short time later, additional deputies arrived at the scene and found the two victim deputies lying on the ground. They were transported to a local hospital where they both died later that day. The first deputy succumbed to the gunshot wound to the front of his head, and the second deputy succumbed to the gunshot wound to the rear of his head. Dispatchers broadcast a description of the man’s truck to local law enforcement. A sergeant from the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, traveling on the same highway, spotted the truck and attempted to make a traffic stop, but the man refused to stop. The sergeant pursued the vehicle as additional officers deployed spike strips in an attempt to disable the truck in a couple of locations along the highway. However, the suspect avoided the strips and continued to flee at speeds of up to 80 mph. A police officer from the Defuniak Springs Police Department placed a set of spike strips across the road along the highway at the city limits. The suspect saw the spike strips and turned across all lanes of the highway to avoid them. He drove off of the right shoulder of the highway and headed toward the sergeant. The sergeant pulled out his gun and fired at the driver’s window as the suspect sped past him going about 70 mph. At this point, five patrol units from Walton County and one unit from Okaloosa County were in pursuit. As the suspect’s vehicle crossed the entrance road to a local airport, it went airborne and left the roadway. The suspect attempted to gain control of the truck and return to the road when the sergeant from Walton County performed a tactical maneuver in an attempt to end the pursuit. The maneuver forced the suspect’s truck off of the right shoulder of the roadway where the truck struck a sign and some shrubs. The vehicle then flipped several times and struck the roof and windshield of a vehicle driven by a Walton County sheriff’s deputy before coming to rest up against that deputy’s vehicle. The remaining deputies involved in the pursuit positioned their vehicles around the suspect’s truck. The suspect, still in the vehicle, shot at the deputies, who returned fire and killed the assailant to end the threat. The 28-year-old man had a prior criminal record that included violent crime.
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A 38-year-old corporal with the Tampa Police Department was shot and killed while investigating a suspicious person around 10 p.m. on August 19. When the veteran corporal, who had nearly 11 years of law enforcement experience, confronted a man pushing a shopping cart full of items in an outside commercial area, a fight ensued. The man tried to run away, and the corporal tackled him. The man then produced a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun, hit the corporal in the head with it, and shot the corporal in the front upper torso/chest area. The round entered the corporal’s ballistic vest through the armhole area, fatally wounding him. The man ran back to the shopping cart and grabbed a canvas bag as a second officer arrived. He reportedly pulled a semiautomatic rifle from the bag, aimed it at the responding officer, and then fled the scene. A police dog later tracked the suspect to the backyard of a nearby residence. The 34-year-old male was arrested and charged with First-Degree Murder of a Law Enforcement Officer, Aggravated Assault of a Law Enforcement Officer, Carrying a Concealed Firearm, and Depriving a Law Enforcement Officer of Communications. In addition to the military-type gear and numerous ammunition magazines found in the shopping cart, police confiscated three handguns and a rifle from the offender.
A 59-year-old lieutenant with the Centreville Police Department was shot and killed while investigating suspicious persons shortly before 2:30 a.m. on June 2. The veteran lieutenant, who had nearly 23 years of law enforcement experience, was patrolling an area near a housing complex when he noticed three or four people loitering at the complex. He stopped his vehicle and told them to leave the area. The lieutenant circled the complex and came back to where he first saw the group, and they were still there. He stopped his vehicle and exited but did not notify the dispatcher that he had left the vehicle or that he was investigating suspicious persons. The lieutenant ordered the individuals to place their hands on the patrol vehicle. As he was patting down one of the individuals, a man pulled out a .32-caliber revolver from his waistband and fired three shots, striking the victim lieutenant in the chest, back of the head, and fatally in the neck. A witness contacted dispatch via the radio in the victim lieutenant’s patrol car and informed them that the lieutenant had been shot. Tips from the public assisted the authorities in locating and arresting the suspect on June 4. The 22-year-old man, who had a prior criminal record that included violent crime, police assault, and weapons violations, was charged with First-Degree Murder.
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A 27-year-old police officer with the Chicago Police Department was shot and killed in an ambush around 12:30 a.m. on June 1. The officer, who had nearly 4 years of law enforcement experience, and his partner responded to a dispatch call of shots fired and a report that gang members were hiding guns in the garage of a nearby residence. As the officers approached the location, they saw someone walking near the residence. While the officers were questioning this person, a vehicle drove by, and a passenger fired multiple shots at them through an open window of the vehicle with a .357 Magnum revolver. The victim officer, who was wearing body armor, was shot in the thigh and the back of the head. He was taken to a local hospital where he died later that morning from the head wound. Later that day, authorities arrested a 21-year-old suspect and charged him with Murder of a Law Enforcement Officer. The suspect stated that he believed he was shooting at rival gang members. The following day, another suspect, a 20-year-old male, was arrested and charged with Murder and Attempted Murder. Both men were on probation at the time of the incident, were known drug dealers, and had prior criminal records that included violent crimes, drugs, and weapons violations.
A 26-year-old deputy sheriff with the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office was shot at 12 p.m. on September 28 in an ambush in Wichita. The deputy, who had more than 1 year of law enforcement experience, had been dispatched a few minutes earlier to investigate a report of larceny. At 12:01 p.m., he radioed dispatch to report that he had been shot. Apparently, the deputy arrived at the residence but was unable to get anyone to answer the front door. He asked the dispatcher to contact the complainant on the telephone, which the dispatcher did. The complainant instructed the deputy via the dispatcher to meet him behind the residence. The deputy went to the rear of the residence, and the man, who was hiding behind a tree, immediately opened fire with a .30-30 lever-action rifle, wounding the deputy in his chest, the front below his waist, and fatally in his back, where at least one of the bullets penetrated his body armor. The force of the shot knocked the victim deputy to the ground. The man approached the deputy and attempted to shoot him at close range, but the rifle malfunctioned and did not fire. After a struggle, the man took the deputy’s service weapon, a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun, and pointed it at the deputy. The deputy, still lying on the ground, lifted his leg in an effort to protect himself from the bullet when the man fired the weapon, and the bullet went through the deputy’s foot and lodged in his bulletproof vest. The man fled the scene, and it was then that the victim deputy radioed dispatch that he had been shot twice. Assisting deputies arrived, secured the scene, and administered emergency medical treatment to the victim deputy until an ambulance arrived. The victim deputy was transported to a local medical center where he underwent surgery, but he succumbed to his wounds later that day. In the meantime, officers from the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office, the Wichita Police Department, the Derby Police Department, the Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP), the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the FBI responded to the scene of the shooting. They surrounded the house where they believed the shooter was located and attempted negotiations with him, but those attempts were unsuccessful. Eventually they introduced gas into the house and then used a robot with a camera in an effort to find the man. However, the suspect had escaped into a rural area surrounding the house. As two ATF agents and one KHP trooper drove through the field where they believed the suspect was hiding, he fired at them with the service weapon he had taken from the fallen deputy. A brief gun battle ensued, and the suspect was fatally wounded and died at the scene. Investigating officers discovered that the man had remarked earlier that he was going to “kill a cop,” and that he subsequently had called in the false report of larceny. They found a large supply of ammunition for the .30-30 rifle and outdoor clothing in a duffle bag at the scene in addition to the victim deputy’s service weapon. The offender was a 27-year-old man with a prior criminal record that included police assault and violent crime.
On September 7, at 8:45 a.m., a 57-year-old officer with the North St. Paul Police Department was shot and killed and a 37-year-old officer with the Maplewood Police Department was wounded while attempting an arrest. The North St. Paul officer, who had nearly 16 years of law enforcement experience, and the Maplewood officer, who had more than 10 years of law enforcement experience, responded to a call regarding a possible violation of a protection order. The woman who had called for assistance and her daughter were waiting in the parking lot outside of their apartment building when the officers arrived. The woman said that she thought her former husband, for whom she had an active protection order, might be in her apartment. He had violated the protection order previously and was on conditional release. At the woman’s request, the officers first checked the vacant apartment adjacent to the woman’s residence but found no sign of the man there. The woman then unlocked the door to her apartment, and the North St. Paul officer entered first and was immediately assaulted by the woman’s ex-husband. The officer pushed the woman and her daughter away from the attack, and he then was struck in the face with a burning rag that the man was wielding. In the altercation that ensued between the two officers and the man, the man managed to remove the North St. Paul officer’s service weapon, a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun, from its holster and shoot the officer once in the side of his head. The victim officer, who was wearing body armor, died instantly. The man immediately turned the gun on the second officer, who was also wearing body armor. In the ensuing gunfight, she fired eight shots at the assailant, and he fired several rounds at her. During this time, the officer’s weapon malfunctioned once, but not before five of her rounds struck the assailant. She discarded that magazine and attempted to load another one, not knowing that it had been damaged by one of the rounds fired by the assailant. The rounds from that magazine spilled onto the floor, and as she was loading her last magazine, a back-up officer arrived, and she and the officer seized the firearm from the shooter and handcuffed him. The 34-year-old assailant, who had had a prior criminal record and convictions that included violent crime, drugs, and weapons violations, died at the scene a short time later. Medical personnel that arrived on the scene pronounced both the victim officer and the assailant deceased. They transported the wounded officer to a local hospital where the injuries to her arms/hands and front lower torso were treated. She was released later that day and returned to work approximately 2 weeks later.
On July 19, a 37-year-old detective with the Jersey City Police Department (JCPD) succumbed to gunshot wounds he received 3 days earlier while attempting to arrest a man suspected of shooting another police detective. In that incident, which occurred on July 16 around 5 a.m., a JCPD surveillance team was monitoring a vehicle that was allegedly used in an armed robbery in which an individual was shot with a 12-gauge shotgun. When the officers saw a female suspect move the vehicle to the opposite side of the street, they began to move toward the vehicle in their unmarked car. The woman exited the vehicle and was joined by a male suspect who apparently had been lurking nearby; the pair crossed the roadway. As the unmarked police car came into view, the man pulled a 12-gauge shotgun from under his robe-like garment and began firing at the unmarked car, striking the detective who was operating it. The pair then fled into an apartment complex. An entry team comprised of the JCPD and the Port Authority of New York and the New Jersey Police Department responded and attempted to elicit the suspects’ surrender. Among the team members was the JCPD veteran detective, who had more than 10 years of law enforcement experience. When the attempts failed to yield a response from the suspects, the entry team began a floor-by-floor, unit-by-unit search of the complex. After clearing 14 units, the team knocked on the door of the fifteenth unit; although the knocks were unanswered, officers heard activity inside the apartment. As the officers prepared to break through the door, the male suspect began firing the same 12-gauge shotgun, striking four officers. The officers returned fire, fatally shooting both the male and female suspects. The victim detective, who was wearing body armor, suffered a shotgun blast to the head and neck. He was transported to a medical facility where he died from the wound to his head. The 32-year-old male assailant had a previous criminal record with both juvenile and adult convictions and that involved violent crime, drugs, police assault, and weapons violations.
A sergeant with the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office was shot and killed on July 16 while investigating a burglary in progress in La Cueva. The 45 year old sergeant, with nearly 27 years of law enforcement experience, and a deputy were on duty working an undercover burglary operation. Around 4:30 a.m., a lone male entered the cabin where the officers were, and a struggle ensued. After the officers handcuffed the 62-year-old burglary suspect, he brandished a .357 caliber revolver and fired five rounds at the officers. The victim sergeant was shot in the arms/hands and fatally below the waist, severing his right femoral artery. Despite being shot, the sergeant was able to return fire, killing the assailant instantly. The man was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident and was wanted in Canada for a double homicide. The sergeant was airlifted to a hospital where he was pronounced dead upon arrival at 6:48 a.m. The deputy was not injured in the incident.
At 1:25 a.m. on April 8, a 29-year-old detective with the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO), who had more than 7 years of law enforcement experience, was killed during a tactical situation in a wooded area in Grifton. A 27-year-old detective with the same agency was also wounded in the incident. At 10 p.m. on April 7, deputies responded to a report of a man who had parked his car near a wooded area, exited the vehicle, and fired a gun. Although the deputies found the vehicle, they could not locate the man. Moments later, the man fired a shot from the nearby patch of woods and continued to fire shots about once every 10 minutes; however, none of the rounds struck the officers or their vehicles. Additional officers arrived and set up a perimeter on both sides of the wooded area. Using a public address system, officers attempted to contact the man, and he responded by firing his weapon again. Meanwhile, officers processed the vehicle’s license information and determined that the owner was a woman in a nearby county. Sheriff’s deputies from that county went to the woman’s residence in an effort to determine the identity of the shooter, but they found the woman dead, apparently murdered in her home. Police determined that the woman’s boyfriend was the individual in the woods firing at the officers. Officers summoned a special response team from the LCSO and a helicopter from the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. Officers in the helicopter scanned the area using infrared technology, and after about 25 minutes, they located the man. Seven members of the special response team, wearing ballistic vests and using a thermal unit and a ballistic shield, entered the woods. The helicopter pilot radioed the team informing them when they were within 5 yards of the man. Armed with a 7 mm bolt-action rifle, the man fired a round at the officers, who were in a “stack formation.” The round went through the sleeve of the first officer’s uniform and struck the detective fatally in the left shoulder. The victim detective was wearing a protective vest, but the round exceeded the vest’s specifications. In the exchange of gunfire that followed, fragments from a shot struck the second detective in the left side of the neck, injuring him. Officers returned fire, hitting the suspect five times; he later died of his injuries. The injured detective recovered from his wounds and returned to duty several weeks later. The 43-year-old suspect had a record involving weapons violations, violent crime, and police assault. Police later found a note in the suspect’s home that indicated he was going to kill as many officers as he could. Investigators also determined that he had murdered his girlfriend.
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A corporal from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office was shot and killed on December 8 at 9:15 a.m. while responding to a disturbance call in Williamston. The 38-year-old veteran corporal, who had nearly 16 years of law enforcement service, responded to a report that a man was walking around and firing a gun in a residential area in the city. When the corporal arrived at the alleged shooter’s residence, he saw a man was inside the home. The corporal had a brief conversation with the man from the front porch and then immediately requested that all available officers report to the scene. The man appeared to walk to the rear interior of the home, and the corporal walked to the side of the house, approaching the backyard. In the backyard, the corporal encountered the man holding a 7.62x39 mm semiautomatic rifle. The corporal ordered the man to drop his weapon; instead, the man fired an unknown number of shots, striking the corporal in the front upper torso/chest. The victim corporal was wearing body armor, but one bullet entered his chest through his left armpit, circumventing the vest. The alleged assailant, a 36-year-old man with a prior criminal record including police assault, was shot and killed by assisting officers who had arrived on the scene.
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At 10:29 a.m. on October 7, two officers with the Winston-Salem Police Department were shot while responding to a warrant service request. A 50-year-old sergeant was shot and killed, and a 27-year-old officer was injured while attempting to make an arrest stemming from the warrant. The officer, who had more than 6 years of law enforcement experience, and his partner responded to the original call made from a local fast-food restaurant. While the officers were en route to the location, the call was upgraded to a hold-up alarm. The two officers arrived on the scene and made contact with the individual who had made the call. Apparently, a man had gone into the business to confront his ex-wife and had created a disturbance. It was then that personnel were prompted to activate the hold-up alarm. The officers identified the suspect and confirmed that he had outstanding warrants for his arrest regarding offenses against his ex-wife. The officers were told that the suspect had exited the building and was in an adjacent parking lot. When the officers went to the parking lot to confront the man, he ran, and the officers pursued on foot. The suspect attempted to run back into the restaurant, but the employees had locked the doors. The sergeant, a 27-year veteran of law enforcement, arrived on the scene to assist just as the suspect was rounding a nearby building. The man ran down an embankment into a thicket, and the sergeant followed him. While in the thicket, the man produced a .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun and shot the sergeant, who was wearing body armor, in the front of his head at point blank range. The 27-year-old officer caught up to them in the thicket, and the suspect shot the officer in the chest. The round was stopped by the officer’s body armor. The officer was also struck by a bullet in the side of the head, near his ear. The officer returned fire with six shots, striking the man three times. The 35-year-old suspect died at the scene. He had a prior criminal record including violent crime, drugs, police assault, and weapons violations. Both the sergeant and the officer were transported to a local medical center. The officer survived his injury but did not return to duty. The sergeant did not recover from his injury and died 5 days later.
Two sheriff’s deputies with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Department were shot and killed in the city of Seminole in an ambush around 4:30 p.m. on July 26. About 4 p.m., a woman called the department because her son, against whom she had a restraining order, had broken into her home, and she was afraid to go into the residence. The two deputies went to the home to investigate. One of the deputies knocked on the front door three times then entered the home. The man in the house opened fire on the officers with 22 shots from a 9 mm automatic rifle. The first deputy, who was 23 years old and had 1 year of law enforcement experience, was struck in the front below the waist and in the front of the head. The second deputy, who was 43 years old and had 3 years of law enforcement experience, was hit by a round in the chest. The first deputy died at the scene from the gunshot wound to his head. The second deputy was taken to a local hospital where he died later that day. The 26-year-old alleged assailant was arrested and charged with two counts of Murder. He was a known drug user and was under the influence of narcotics at the time of the incident. The man also had a prior criminal record that included violent crime, drugs, police assault, and weapons violations.
A 32-year-old patrol officer with the Penn Hills Police Department was shot and killed on December 6 around 8:25 p.m. in an ambush. The patrol officer, who was a 5½-year veteran of law enforcement, was sitting in his police cruiser waiting for backup outside the house where a 911 call around 8:20 p.m. indicated that there was a man inside with a gun. While the telephone line remained open, the dispatcher heard what sounded like a struggle, then gunshots. A second officer arrived at the scene and reported that an officer was down. Additional units were called to the scene. Approximately 8:30 p.m., a sergeant arrived and found a woman standing in the street crying and yelling, “He’s been shot, the cop’s shot.” She told the sergeant that the victim officer was in his car. The sergeant told the woman to return to her house and remain there, and he ran to the patrol officer’s vehicle, where he found the victim patrol officer slumped in the front seat with a gunshot wound to his head. Because of the initial “officer down” call, medical personnel already had been dispatched. Within minutes of the sergeant’s arrival, an ambulance arrived at the scene and rushed the patrol officer to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later of the head wound from a round from a 7.62x39 mm semiautomatic rifle. Further investigation showed that the victim patrol officer, who was wearing body armor, was also shot in the chest but had been able to fire two shots from his service weapon before he was fatally wounded. They also found the body of another man in an upstairs bathroom. Apparently, the suspect had shot and killed the man in the bathroom and was attempting to run from the scene when he saw the patrol officer in the cruiser and had shot him. Twelve hours later, officers arrested a 32-year-old suspect when they located him in his mother’s residence. The suspect had a criminal record that included murder, weapons violations, and drugs, and was also on parole at the time of the incident. He was charged with two counts of Criminal Homicide, Burglary, Robbery, Illegal Possession of a Firearm, Possession of a Firearm without a License, Possession of a Firearm with an Altered Manufacturing Number, and Possession of a Prohibitive/Offensive Weapon.
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Around 8:40 p.m. on June 7, a 34-year-old state trooper with the Pennsylvania State Police, Swiftwater, who had nearly 7 years of law enforcement experience, was fatally shot following a traffic stop in Coolbaugh Township. A 35-year-old state trooper with the same detachment, who had nearly 6 years of law enforcement experience, was injured in the same incident. Approximately 7:45 p.m., officers from the Nazareth Borough Police Department (NBPD) responded to the residence of a reported protection from abuse violation. When the officers arrived at the home, they found that the suspect had left the home with his 9-year-old son. Other officers with the NBPD spotted the man driving his vehicle, and they pursued him for 40 miles to Coolbaugh Township. Assisting officers were able to stop the vehicle. The two troopers from the Swiftwater detachment approached the vehicle, and when they were within 5 feet of the driver’s door, the man opened fire with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun, striking the victim officer in the neck and wounding the other officer in his left shoulder. The troopers returned fire, striking the assailant, while another state trooper and a corporal with the Tatamy Borough Police Department pulled the boy from the vehicle unharmed. The fatally wounded state trooper, who was wearing body armor, was airlifted to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injury later that day. The second state trooper, who was also wearing body armor, was taken to another hospital where he was treated and later released. The 31-year-old assailant, who was on probation at the time of the incident and who had a prior criminal record that included drug use, was pronounced dead at the scene.
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A 25-year-old police officer with the Philadelphia Police Department was shot and killed on February 13 while investigating an attempted robbery. At 8:12 p.m., the officer and his partner responded to a call where they were met by a cab driver who identified a man who had attempted to rob him. As the officers approached the suspect, they directed him to remove his hands from his pockets. The man fired multiple shots from a .357-caliber revolver from inside his jacket pocket. The victim officer, who had nearly 6 years of law enforcement experience, was struck three times in the front upper torso/chest above his body armor. Both officers returned fire and wounded the offender. The victim officer was transported to a local medical center where he died shortly after arrival. The 33 year old suspect, a known drug dealer and user, was on probation at the time of the incident. He was arrested and charged with Murder and Narcotics Possession.
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Three officers from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police were killed and another of its officers was injured in an ambush at a residence shortly after 7 a.m. on April 4. At 7:03 a.m., dispatchers received a call of a domestic dispute at the residence, and two officers arrived at the scene at 7:11 a.m. One officer was 36 years old and had more than 1 year of law enforcement experience; the other officer was 28 years old and had nearly 2 years of law enforcement experience. Each was wearing body armor. The complainant, who had called and asked police to remove her adult son from the house, admitted the officers into the dwelling. She apparently was unaware that her son had come into the room with a .22-caliber rifle. When the officers entered about 10 feet into the house, he opened fire on them with an unknown number of rounds. The woman fled downstairs to the basement as each officer was hit in the front of the head. The 36-year-old officer was hit at point blank range and fell to the floor inside the house. The other officer apparently had moved outside of the house to the front stoop, where he fell. Witnesses said the man opened the screen door and fired two or three more shots at the fallen officer, then went back inside. Both officers died at the scene. At approximately 7:16 a.m., dispatchers received calls about the downed officers, and a 45-year-old officer, who had 26 years of law enforcement experience, responded. As he arrived at the scene, he saw that another officer, aged 41 and with more than 14 years of law enforcement experience, had responded to the call and had been shot below the waist and in the chest. The wounded officer, who was wearing body armor and was off-duty just having completed the night shift, was lying on the ground near his vehicle. As the responding officer took cover near the front of the vehicle to assess the situation, the assailant fired an unknown number of rounds from a 7.62 mm semiautomatic rifle from the residence toward the vehicle, striking the officer in the hand. The officer, despite his injury, pulled the other wounded officer to cover behind the vehicle and fired at the assailant until the SWAT team arrived. The fatally wounded officer was taken to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. When the SWAT team arrived, officers took up positions around the area, and a 3-hour standoff ensued during which time the assailant exchanged gunfire with police intermittently. The man had been stockpiling weapons and had used several weapons in the incident, including a 12-gauge shotgun, a .357-caliber revolver, and a .380-caliber handgun. Several rounds from the assailant’s weapons struck the SWAT team’s vehicle as well as nearby residences. Police returned fire, and at one point, struck the man in the leg, wounding him. The assailant, who was 22 years old and was wearing body armor, then allowed the police to enter the home. He was taken to a local hospital where he was treated for his injuries. He was arrested and charged with Aggravated Assault and three counts of Criminal Homicide. His mother was safely removed from the home without injuries. The officer with the injured hand recovered from his injury and returned to duty on April 25.
A deputy sheriff with the Turner County Sheriff’s Office was shot and killed around 9:15 a.m. on March 15 while responding to a call regarding a possible suicide attempt. The 32-year-old deputy sheriff, who had 5 years of law enforcement experience, arrived at the rural residence and attempted to make contact with a 19-year-old male, whose welfare was in question. The deputy entered a bathroom in the home and located the male holding a .30-06 bolt action rifle. The man shot at the deputy, and the bullet grazed the deputy’s left shoulder, hitting beyond the edge of his body armor. The deputy returned fire and retreated toward his patrol vehicle as the man shot at him two more times. One bullet struck the front door post of the patrol vehicle and the other round went through the windshield and struck the deputy fatally in the neck. The 19-year-old suspect telephoned the Mitchell Police Department from the residence, claimed he had shot the deputy in self defense, and then fled the scene. When emergency personnel arrived, they found the deputy deceased on the ground next to his patrol vehicle. Approximately 3 hours later, the suspect, who had a prior criminal record and who was a known drug user, surrendered to law enforcement officials. He was arrested and charged with First-Degree Murder.
A 56-year-old captain with the Henderson Police Department died December 13 from gunshot wounds sustained shortly before 8 p.m. on December 10 when he responded to a robbery in progress at a local grocery store. Minutes before the incident, one of the employees had called dispatch to report that an armed man was robbing the store. The captain, a veteran with nearly 28 years in law enforcement, and a deputy were the first to arrive at the scene. As two assisting officers were pulling into the store’s parking lot, they received a call from dispatch indicating that shots had been fired in the store and that the captain had been hit. The assisting officers entered the store and found the deputy unharmed and the captain lying on the floor. The assailant had shot three rounds from a .44-caliber revolver, wounding the captain in his front lower torso/stomach. The captain had fired 13 rounds, wounding the suspect. The assisting officers found the assailant lying on the floor of the store’s office with the revolver lying at his feet. They ordered the man to show his hands. When the man did not comply, the two officers and another deputy who had arrived at the scene approached the man, who was lying face down with his hands under him moving around. The officers turned him over, handcuffed him, and searched him for any additional weapons. The captain was transported to a local medical center where he succumbed to his injuries 3 days later. The 48-year-old assailant, who had a prior history of violent crime, drugs, and weapons violations, recovered from his wounds and was charged with First-Degree Murder, Attempted Murder, and Aggravated Robbery.
At 3:40 p.m. on April 2, a sergeant with the Bridgeport Police Department was killed while assisting with a traffic pursuit. A peace officer with the Wise County Attorney’s Office and a deputy with the Wise County Sheriff’s Office were riding in a patrol car near Decatur when they saw a speeding vehicle driven by an individual they believed they had pursued earlier that day. They followed the vehicle into Bridgeport. The 32-year-old sergeant, who had 6 years of law enforcement experience, had been clearing traffic ahead of the pursuit and was waiting in his marked cruiser on the right side of the road for the officers’ and the suspect’s vehicles. When they arrived, the suspect abruptly turned his vehicle to the right, crossed two lanes of traffic, and struck the parked patrol car, fatally wounding the victim sergeant, who died at the scene. The 43-year-old assailant, who was taken to a local hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in the incident, was known to use drugs and had a prior criminal record. At the hospital, he confessed to the murder to an attending ranger and was subsequently arrested and charged with Capital Murder of a Law Enforcement Officer.
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A 31-year-old deputy sheriff with the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office was killed on July 13 in an incident at a residence in Baytown. The deputy, who had more than 6 years’ law enforcement experience, responded to a mobile home a little after 9:30 a.m. with a fellow deputy and a trooper from the Texas Department of Public Safety. A meter reader assigned to turn off water service to the home had reported being shot at by a resident. When the law enforcement officers arrived, they arrested a female resident of the home who had shot with what she later described as “blanks” at the meter reader. When the deputy sheriff, who was wearing body armor, entered the home to search for other suspects or victims, he encountered a male resident in a hall near a back bedroom. The male resident looked around a corner, saw the deputy, and began firing a .223-caliber semiautomatic rifle, fatally wounding the deputy in the front head. The shooter then went into the back bedroom. The other deputy and the trooper fired at the assailant through the door and wall of the bedroom and were able to get the victim deputy out of the home. Because there was no further response from inside the home, SWAT teams were called. After an extended standoff, heavy construction equipment was used to shake the mobile home and then remove a wall. The 37-year-old shooter was found dead in the back bedroom with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The SWAT units noticed explosives in the home and called in the bomb squad, which began clearing the residence. They requested assistance from other bomb squads, including four FBI Special Agent Bomb Technicians. The bomb squads collectively found 118 improvised devices, which took 2 days to safely remove. The shooter had prior crime convictions that included violent crime, weapons violations, and a juvenile conviction.
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A 47-year-old lieutenant with the Corpus Christi Police Department was fatally struck by a vehicle at 12:10 a.m. on March 11 while deploying stop sticks during a felony traffic pursuit. A few minutes earlier, a patrol officer in a neighboring community had requested an emergency backup after a driver had assaulted him in Molina. The assault had escalated into a traffic pursuit, and the lieutenant had responded to the area to assist the patrol officer. The lieutenant had placed the tire deflation devices on the road in advance of the suspect’s arrival in Corpus Christi. The 20-year law enforcement veteran was waiting on the shoulder of the road to pull up the spikes once the suspect had driven over them. As the driver approached the devices, officers chasing the suspect’s vehicle saw the driver swerve off the road and strike the victim officer with the vehicle. The victim officer suffered extensive and fatal internal injuries; he was taken to a local medical center where he was pronounced dead at 12:30 a.m. After striking the victim officer, the assailant sped away in his vehicle with the other officers still in pursuit. The pursuit ended when the driver was shot while attempting to assault other officers. The 21-year-old driver, who was on probation at the time of the incident, was also taken to a medical center for the treatment of his wounds. The suspect, who had a prior record for violent crime, was arrested and charged with Homicide and eight counts of Aggravated Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer. The suspect was later found guilty and sentenced to death.
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A 43-year-old senior corporal with the Dallas Police Department was shot and killed on January 6 while attempting to serve an arrest warrant. The corporal, who had 18 years of law enforcement experience, was with other members of a gang unit as they attempted to enter an apartment at 6:14 p.m. An individual from inside the residence fired five shots through the door from a .38-caliber revolver. The victim corporal, who was wearing body armor, was struck in the front of his head from an unknown number of rounds, and he fell to the ground. He was transported to a local hospital where he died as a result of his injuries. The 26-year-old male suspect, a known drug dealer with a prior criminal history, was arrested and charged with Capital Murder.
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A 29-year-old patrol officer with the Pasadena Police Department died from a gunshot wound to the head at 7:11 a.m. on August 21 after responding to a domestic disturbance call. He was one of two patrol officers dispatched to the scene. The officer, who had nearly 5 years of law enforcement experience, was wearing body armor when he arrived at the residence at 6:25 a.m. He knocked on the door of the dwelling and made contact with the woman who had called the police for help concerning a man who was mentally ill. While the two talked on the porch, the man stepped out of the residence and shot the officer in the front of the head with a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun. The second responding officer had just arrived, and upon seeing the shooting, he shot the male assailant. The victim officer was transported by medical helicopter to a hospital in Houston where he was pronounced dead. The 24-year-old assailant, who had a previous criminal record with both juvenile and adult convictions, was arrested and charged with Capital Murder of a Law Enforcement Officer and Aggravated Assault of a Law Enforcement Officer.
One sergeant and three officers from the Lakewood Police Department were killed in an ambush at 8:14 a.m. on November 29. Earlier that morning, the sergeant and the officers went to a local coffee shop where police often gather to share information and complete required reports. At 8:16 a.m., dispatchers received a 911 call via a mobile phone that reported a man had entered the coffee shop and had fired a gun. The witness with the mobile phone reported that a man had walked into the business as if he were going to purchase coffee, but instead, had drawn a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun and had fired on the four officers at close range. The 39-year-old sergeant, who had more than 13 years of law enforcement experience, was shot in the rear of his head and fatally in the side of his head. The 37-year-old officer, who had more than 12 years of law enforcement experience, was shot in the front and side of his head, in his front upper torso/chest, and fatally in his neck/throat area. The 40-year-old officer, who had nearly 15 years of law enforcement experience, was struck in the rear of her head and fatally in the side of her head. The fourth officer, a 42-year-old with more than 8 years of law enforcement experience, was able to shoot the assailant twice in the chest/abdomen even though the officer was shot in the front, rear, and side of his head; in the front below his waist; in his arms/hands; and in the front of his head, which was the fatal wound. After killing the four officers, all of whom were wearing body armor, the assailant took the 42-year-old officer’s weapon and left the coffee shop. Witnesses reported that the alleged assailant went to a nearby car wash where he got into the passenger side of a truck that was being washed by another man. That man reportedly drove away in the vehicle with the alleged assailant. Two days later, at 2:30 a.m., a police officer in Seattle discovered a stolen vehicle apparently abandoned in the middle of a street. As the officer approached the vehicle, he heard a noise by his patrol car, turned, and saw a man whom he recognized as the suspect from the Lakewood shootings. The officer ordered the man to show his hands, and when the man refused to comply, the officer shot and killed him. The gun that was taken from the victim officer during the ambush in the coffee shop was found in the man’s waistband. The 37-year-old alleged assailant was a known drug dealer with previous charges against him for violent crime, murder, and weapons violations. He was on conditional release at the time of the shootings and was known to have mental disorders.
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Two officers with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department were shot at 8:48 p.m. on December 21 when they responded to a domestic incident in Eatonville. The 44-year-old deputy sheriff, who had 10 years of law enforcement experience, was fatally wounded, and the 43-year-old sergeant, who had nearly 21 years of law enforcement experience, was seriously wounded but survived the attack. The officers were called to a residence to investigate an argument between two brothers. The officers were invited into the home by the caller, who was one of the brothers. The other brother apparently had armed himself and began firing shots at both officers with a .45 caliber semiautomatic handgun. The deputy sheriff was wounded in the neck/throat and fatally in the front upper torso/chest when the bullet entered between the side panels of his protective body armor. Even though he was severely wounded, the deputy sheriff returned fire, killing the assailant. The veteran sergeant, who was wearing body armor, was wounded on the side of his head. The victim deputy sheriff was airlifted to a hospital where he died on December 28. The victim sergeant was taken to a hospital where he was treated and released days later for an extended recovery. The 35-year-old assailant, who had a prior mental disorder, had a criminal history including police assault and was on conditional release at the time of the incident.
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On October 31, just after 11 p.m., two officers from the Seattle Police Department were ambushed while sitting in their patrol car. The attack left a 39-year-old officer dead and a 34-year-old officer injured. The 39-year-old officer, who had nearly 9 years of law enforcement experience, and a trainee officer, who had 7 months of law enforcement experience, were parked on a public street discussing training points following a routine traffic stop. The veteran officer was seated in the passenger side when a car pulled up on the driver’s side of their police vehicle, blocking the trainee officer’s door. The trainee officer noticed that the driver had something in his hand, and she yelled a warning and ducked. The driver of the car shot several rounds from a .223-caliber semiautomatic rifle into the police vehicle. The trainee officer received an injury to her upper back when a bullet entered the left sleeve of her shirt, traveled along her back tearing her protective vest, and exited through her right sleeve. The veteran officer, who was wearing body armor, was shot in the neck and arm, and received a fatal wound to the side of his head. The shooter backed up his vehicle and made a three-point turn and fled the scene. The injured trainee officer was able to exit the patrol car and fire several rounds into the assailant’s vehicle before he sped away. She used the radio to call for help, reporting that shots had been fired and that her partner had been killed. When assistance arrived, the injured officer was transported to the hospital where she was treated and released. The 41-year-old male suspect, who had no prior record, was arrested 6 days later and charged with Murder, two counts of Attempted Murder, and Arson.