Roll of Honor
Incident
Trooper Eric Gunderson died from complications as the result of contracting COVID-19 while at a training conference in Champions Gate, Florida.
Trooper Gunderson was the technology liaison in the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and a member of the SWAT Team. His pioneering work with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's) had been chronicled in media stories across the nation. He had traveled around the country representing the Washington State Patrol for UAV usage to shorten the time of road closures during collision investigations. It is on one of these trips that he contracted COVID.
Trooper Gunderson had served with Washington State Patrol for 15 years.
COVID-19 and Law Enforcement
Trooper Eric Thomas Gunderson died on September 26, 2021 of COVID-19 contracted in the line of duty. He was 38.
He is one of 884 officers honored here.
Beginning in early 2020, law enforcement officers across the country contracted COVID-19 in the course of their duties. While much of the nation sheltered at home, they kept answering calls, making arrests, transporting prisoners, and working face to face with the public. There was no distance to be had from the job.
Corrections officers were hit hardest. Confined facilities and large populations meant constant, close, unavoidable exposure.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife and two sons.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-WA-07F9A603- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- August 2, 2026
- Last updated
- August 2, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
The country locked its doors. You kept working.
Trooper Gunderson gave the Washington State Patrol 15 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of Washington. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Trooper Gunderson.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Trooper Eric Thomas Gunderson is one of 1 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,756 officers honored here.
In WA, 19 of 340 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 5.6% of this state's fallen. That is 5.6 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.
At Washington State Patrol, 2 of 34 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 5.9% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Eric Thomas Gunderson's cause is highlighted.
How Eric Thomas Gunderson Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Eric Thomas Gunderson is highlighted in Sep.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
33 officers from Washington State Patrol are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
