Officers Feloniously Killed

Download Printable Document

The following information concerns duly sworn city, university and college, county, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement officers who died in 2013 as a result of felonious incidents in the line of duty. The law enforcement officers included in this report also met additional criteria (e.g., they had full arrest powers; they ordinarily wore/carried a badge and a firearm).

Overview

In 2013, 27 law enforcement officers died from injuries incurred in the line of duty during felonious incidents.

Of the officers feloniously killed, 16 were employed by city police departments, including 4 who were members of law enforcement agencies in cities with 250,000 or more inhabitants.

Line-of-duty deaths occurred in 16 states.

By region, 15 officers were feloniously killed in the South, 6 officers in the West, 4 officers in the Midwest, and 2 officers in the Northeast.

More information about these topics is provided in Tables 1, 2, 15, 16, 21, 22, 28, 29, and 30.

Victim profile

The average age of the officers who died in 2013 was 39 years old.

The slain officers’ average length of law enforcement service was 13 years.

Of the officers who died due to felonious incidents in 2013, 25 were male and 2 were female.

By race, 25 of the victim officers were white and 2 were black.

More information about this topic is provided in Tables 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11.

Circumstances

6 officers died as a result of arrest situations.

5 officers were involved in ambush situations.

5 officers died as a result of investigating suspicious persons or circumstances.

4 officers who died had responded to disturbance calls.

4 officers were killed as a result of tactical situations (barricaded offender, hostage taking, high-risk entry, etc.).

2 officers were fatally injured during traffic pursuits or stops.

1 officer was conducting investigative activity (surveillance, search, interview, etc.).

More information about this topic is provided in Tables 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 31, 32, 33, and 34.

Assignments

16 officers were on assigned vehicle patrol when the felonious incidents occurred.

9 officers were assigned to other duties, such as detectives, officers on special assignments, undercover officers, or officers on other types of assignments not listed.

2 of the slain officers were off duty, but acting in an official capacity, at the times of the incidents.

16 on-duty officers who died in 2013 were assisted at the time of the attacks.

9 on-duty officers were alone and unassisted at the time of the attacks.

More information about this topic is provided in Tables 15, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, and 26.

Weapons

Of the officers killed in 2013, most (26) were killed with firearms. Of these, 18 were killed with handguns. (A breakdown of the types of weapons used in these slayings is provided in Table 27.)

2 officers had their weapons stolen.

6 officers fired their weapons; 3 officers attempted to use their weapons.

9 officers were slain with firearms when they were 0-5 feet from the offenders.

More information about this topic is provided in Tables 12, 13, 14, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, and 41.

Body armor

In 2013, 19 of the officers feloniously killed were wearing body armor at the time of the incidents.

Of these officers, 18 were killed with firearms, incurring the following wounds: 5 were wounded in the side of the head. 5 were shot in the front upper torso/chest. 4 suffered wounds to the front of the head. 3 were shot in the neck/throat. 1 was shot in the rear lower torso/back.



More information about this topic is provided in Tables 37, 38, 39, 40, and 41.

Months, days, and times of incidents

More officers (5 in each month) died from felonious assaults that occurred in February and December than in any other month in 2013.

More officers (6) were involved in fatal assaults that occurred on Thursdays than on any other day of the week.

13 officers were fatally injured in assaults that happened between 12:01 a.m. and noon.

14 officers were fatally injured in assaults that happened between 12:01 p.m. and midnight.

More information about these topics is provided in Tables 3, 4, 5, 17, and 18.

Profile of alleged known assailants

In 2013, 28 alleged offenders were identified in connection with the 27 law enforcement officers feloniously killed. Of those offenders, the following characteristics are known:

The average age of the alleged offenders was 30 years old.

The average height was 5 feet 9 inches tall, and the average weight was 177 pounds.

26 of the alleged offenders were male, 1 was female, and gender was not reported for 1 offender.

15 of the alleged offenders were white, 11 were black, and race was not reported for 2 offenders.

20 of the alleged offenders had prior criminal arrests.

6 of the alleged offenders were under judicial supervision at the time of the incidents.

1 of the alleged offenders was under the influence of a controlled substance at the time of the fatal incident.

3 of the alleged offenders were under the influence of alcohol or were intoxicated at the time of the fatal incidents.

More information about this topic is provided in Tables 42, 43, 44, 45, and 46.