Officers Feloniously Killed

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The following information concerns duly sworn city, university and college, county, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement officers who died in 2016 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 2016, 66 law enforcement officers died from injuries incurred in the line of duty during felonious incidents. (See Table 1.)

• Line-of-duty deaths occurred in 29 states and in Puerto Rico. (See Table 1.) 

• By region, 30 officers were feloniously killed in the South, 17 officers in the West,
  13 officers in the Midwest, 4 officers in the Northeast, and 2 officers in Puerto Rico. (See Table 1.)

Of the officers feloniously killed, 41 were employed by city police departments, including 12 who were members of law enforcement agencies in cities with 250,000 or more inhabitants. (Based on Table 2.)

Victim profile  

• The average age of the officers who died in 2016 was 40 years old. (See Table 10.) 

• The slain officers’ average length of law enforcement service was 13 years.
  (See Table 11.) 

• Of the officers who died due to felonious incidents in 2016, 64 were male and 2 were female. (See Table 15.) 

• By race, 61 of the victim officers were White, 4 were Black/African American, and 1 was Asian/Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander. (See Table 15.) 

Circumstances (See Table 23.)

• 17 officers were killed in ambush situations. 

• 13 officers who died had responded to disturbance calls. 

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

• 9 officers died as a result of arrest situations. 

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

• 5 officers were conducting investigative activities (surveillance, search, interview, etc.). 

• 4 officers were fatally injured during traffic pursuits/stops. 

• 3 officers were killed in unprovoked attacks. 
  

Assignments (Based on Table 21.)

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

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

• 1 officer was on foot patrol. 

• 1 slain officer was off duty (but acting in an official capacity) at the time of the incident. 

• 44 on-duty officers who died in 2016 were assisted at the times of the attacks. 

• 21 on-duty officers were alone and unassisted at the times of the attacks. 
  

Weapons 

• Of the officers killed in 2016, most (62) were killed with firearms. Of these, 37 were killed with handguns. (See Table 28.) 

• 14 officers fired their weapons; 11 officers attempted to fire their weapons.
  (See Table 18.) 

• 3 officers had their weapons stolen. (Based on Table 19.) 

• 19 officers were slain with firearms when they were 0-5 feet from the offenders.
  (See Table 31.) 
  

Body armor 

• Of these officers, 47 were killed with firearms (see Table 35), and incurred the following wounds:
• 14 suffered wounds to the front of the head.
• 8 were shot in the front upper torso/chest.
• 6 were wounded in the side of the head.
• 3 were shot in the neck/throat.
• 2 were shot in the rear of the head.
• 2 were shot in the front lower torso/stomach.
• 2 were wounded in the rear lower torso/back. 
• 1 was shot in the rear upper torso/back. 
• 1 was shot in the front below the waist. 
• 1 was shot in the rear below the waist.
• The location of the fatal wound was not reported for 7 incidents.
  

Months, days, and times of incidents 

• More officers (13) died from felonious assaults that occurred in November than in any other month in 2016. (See Table 9.) 

• More officers (15) were involved in fatal assaults that occurred on Wednesdays than on any other day of the week. (See Table 6.) 

• 28 officers were fatally injured in assaults that happened between 12:01 a.m. and noon. (See Table 7.) 

• 37 officers were fatally injured in assaults that happened between 12:01 p.m. and midnight. (See Table 7.) 

• The time of day was not reported for 1 incident. (See Table 7.) 
  

Profile of alleged known assailants 

• The average age of the alleged offenders was 34 years old. (See Table 39.) 

• The average height was 5 feet 10 inches tall, and the average weight was 187 pounds. (See Table 40.) 

• 55 alleged offenders were male. The gender of 4 offenders was not reported.
  (See Table 41.) 

• 32 of the alleged offenders were White, 15 were Black/African American, 1 was American Indian/Alaska Native, and race was not reported for 11 offenders.
  (See Table 41.) 

• 14 of the alleged offenders were under judicial supervision at the times of the incidents. (See Table 44.) 

• 14 of the alleged offenders were under the influence of a controlled substance at the times of the fatal incidents. (See Table 44.) 

• 2 of the alleged offenders were under the influence of alcohol or were intoxicated at the times of the fatal incidents. (See Table 44.) 

• 45 of the alleged offenders had prior criminal arrests. (See Table 45.)