Roll of Honor
Incident
Patrolman Benjamin Ayers succumbed to an accidental gunshot wound sustained when a pistol his sergeant was carrying fell to the ground and discharged at the corner of Pine Street and Ewing Avenue.
He and his sergeant were walking to the police station when they met another officer. The other officer had borrowed a pistol from a third officer and asked that the sergeant return it, as the third officer was scheduled for the next shift. The sergeant placed the pistol inside his coat pocket and, as he and Patrolman Ayers began walking again, it fell from his pocket and discharged. The round struck Patrolman Ayers through the leg and into his abdomen.
Patrolman Ayers was survived by his wife and two children.
Survivors
Patrolman Ayers was survived by his wife and two children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-MO-5FEF7D63- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
148 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Patrolman Ayers served with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the St. Louis community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Patrolman Benjamin W. Ayers is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In MO, 237 of 813 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 29.2% of this state's fallen. That is 1.8 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, 56 of 176 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.8% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Benjamin W. Ayers's cause is highlighted.
How Benjamin W. Ayers Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Benjamin W. Ayers is highlighted in Jan.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
175 officers from St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
