A total of 118 police officers died in the line of duty in 2016, reports the FBI. Of these, 52 were accidental deaths and 66 were felony homicides – 62 of which were as a result of gunshot wounds. Of those incidents 51 of the officers were wearing body armor at the time.

The number of US police officers feloniously killed on the job in 2016 is up 61 percent year-on-year, according to the FBI's annual Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) report released Monday. This is the second highest number of felony killings of police officers since 2011, when 72 officers died.

Today, FBI released the annual Law Enforcement Officers Killed & Assaulted report for 2016. For more info & stats: https://t.co/mO9wM7Dcfmpic.twitter.com/SlCRcPCcOG — FBI (@FBI) October 16, 2017

"Every law enforcement officer goes to work knowing that today might be his or her last,” US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement Monday.

“But last year, we saw a staggering 61 percent increase in the number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty because of a felony, and on average, more than 150 officers were assaulted in the line of duty every single day. These numbers are as shocking as they are unacceptable.”

“Moreover, 57,180 officers were victims of line-of-duty assaults – this is a 14 percent rise from the 50,212 officer that were victims of line-of-duty assaults in 2015,” Sessions added, citing statistics published in the report.

The most common form of felony homicide involved police officers being ambushed after responding to 911 calls. Accidental deaths rose from a total of 45 in 2015 to 52 in 2016 and most related to vehicular accidents.

The average age of the cops killed feloniously was 40 years old, with an average of 13 years experience in law enforcement. Those who died in accidents averaged 11 years experience with a mean age of 38.