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Trooper

Werner Foerster

New Jersey State Police — West Trenton, NJ

Veteran → Felonious

End of Watch May 2, 1973

Age 34

Tour of Duty 3 yrs

Badge 2608

The Vigil Panel 245 · Column 1 · Line 20 ›

Gender Male

Incident Media Service The Sacrifice Military Memorials 1 Also Remembered Department 83

Incident

Trooper Werner Foerster was shot and killed with his own service weapon after backing up another trooper who had stopped a vehicle containing two men and a woman on the New Jersey Turnpike. The subjects started struggling with the troopers and disarmed Trooper Foerster. One of the men opened fire, killing Trooper Foerster and wounding the other trooper. Despite his wounds, the other trooper returned fire and killed one of the subjects. The three subjects were members of the Black Liberation Army. The two surviving subjects were convicted of Trooper Foerster's murder, but the female suspect escaped from prison in 1979 and fled to Cuba, where she remained at large until dying in 2025. The man who shot Trooper Werner was sentenced to life in prison. He was denied parole in 2011, but in September 2014, the New Jersey Superior Court overturned the ruling and ordered that the subject be paroled. An accomplice who helped the female subject escape was placed on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list in 1982. He was arrested in 1986 for his involvement in the 1981 murders of two Nyack, New York, police officers. Trooper Foerster was a United States Army Vietnam veteran and had served with the New Jersey State Police Department for almost three years. Survivors include his wife and two children. He is buried in Washington Monumental Cemetery, South River, New Jersey. The Route 18 overpass on the New Jersey Turnpike has been dedicated as the Werner Foerster Overpass in his honor. The Black Liberation Army was a violent, radical group that attempted to fight for independence from the United States government in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The BLA was responsible for the murders of more than 10 police officers and the wounding of many more law enforcement officers. Please click here to visit all the law enforcement officers who have died as a result of the Black Liberation Army's violent activism.

Survivors

Survivors include his wife and two children.

In Our Keeping

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Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: August 2, 2026
Last updated: August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Also honored at salute.nw — U.S. Army. One record, 2 gates. Werner is one person.

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Tributes

I served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Trooper Foerster gave the New Jersey State Police 3 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of New Jersey, and for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department New Jersey State Police

Type State Police

Location West Trenton, NJ

Platform Identity njsp.nj.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch May 2, 1973

Tour of Duty 3 yrs

Age 34

Badge Number 2608

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Weapon Officer's handgun

Military Service

Werner Foerster served in the U.S. Army (1963â1965) before joining law enforcement.

View full service record on salute.nw →

The Sacrifice · Felonious

Werner is one of 15,743 officers killed feloniously in the United States, 57.1% of the 27,552 remembered there.

34,103 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

Compare against

Time

In 1973, 171 officers in the United States were killed feloniously, the 17th heaviest of 213 years on record. The heaviest was 1921, with 248.

Every year on record · United States

Who

Werner was 34. Of the 14,219 killed feloniously in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 31 and 47; the middle age was 38. Werner had served 3 years; the middle length of service was 6 years.

Age at death

Where he stood among them

Age by years of service

III

When

May holds 8% of these deaths in the United States; December holds the most, 9.4%. Wednesdays: 12.9%.

By month

By day of the week

How

Felonious deaths account for 57.1% of all 27,552 deaths in the United States, the most common cause. The weapon recorded was officer's handgun, in 5.8% of these deaths.

Every cause

Weapons recorded