114 Police Killed on Duty in 2014; 46 Were Shot to Death
December 22, 2014 - 4:56 PM
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By Ali Meyer
(CNSNews.com) - The assassination of two police officers in New York City on Saturday; and the deadly attack on a Tarpon Springs, Fla. police officer one day later have boosted the toll of police deaths to 114 for 2014. More than half of the officers killed were attacked in some way. And the year is not over yet.
As of early Tuesday, 114 police officers were listed on the 2014 Honor Roll of Heroes compiled annually by the Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP). That's already more than the 105 officers who died in 2013.
More than half of the 114 deaths were due to some form of assault and were non-accidental. They include two police officers who died as a result of assault, 46 killed by gunfire, including NYPD Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu; and 10 killed in vehicular assaults, which totals to 58 of the 114, or 50.87 percent.
The other 56 deaths were accidental, with 26 killed in vehicle crashes, one police officer who drowned, another who died in a fire, two killed by accidental gunfire, 15 killed because of heart attacks, three who died in motorcycle accidents, three who were struck by a vehicle, and five who died in a vehicle pursuit.
All but four of the officers who have died so far in 2014 were men; the average age was 40, and the average tour of duty was 12 years, 6 months.
California (14), Texas (11) and New York (7) had the most officer deaths this year. And May 2014 was the deadliest month, with 18 officers dying, followed by March and October, with 13 deaths each.
The most recent death by assault is that of Officer Charles Kondek who died on Sunday, Dec. 21. Kondek was shot while responding to a noise complaint call, then run over by the suspect's car as he fled the scene.
Officer Mark Lawson also died on March 24, 2014 in a vehicular assault. The records show that Larson was flagged down by a woman who said she'd been attacked. When Larson stopped the suspect's car, the man grabbed Larson's arm and dragged him as he sped away. Larson shot the suspect multiple times, but the man rammed Larson into a guardrail, breaking both of his legs and nearly severing his arm. The officer ended up in a ditch.
Here are the names of all 114 officers killed. (For the record, 20 K9s also died in the line of duty so far this year, including five that were shot and two that were stabbed.):
For each of their stories, visit the Officer Down Memorial Page here.
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http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/114-police-killed-duty-2014-46-were-shot-death
