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Patrolman

Francis Duon Hemilright

Southern Shores Police Department — Southern Shores, NC

Cardiac

End of Watch January 14, 2000

Age 62

Tour of Duty 20 yrs

The Vigil Panel 146 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice

Incident

Patrolman Francis Hemilright died after suffering a heart attack as he responded to a large fight at an area bar.

Patrolman Hemilright and approximately 25 officers from neighboring agencies responded to a night club where approximately 200 people were involved in the fight. After checking the scene, Patrolman Hemilright was found slumped over in his cruiser. Officers from a neighboring agency attempted to revive him using a defibrillator the officers carry in their cruisers. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Patrolman Hemilright had been in law enforcement in the Outer Banks area for over 20 years.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-NC-0A2FDBD0
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

20 years. You could have gone home.
Patrolman Hemilright gave the Southern Shores Police Department 20 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Southern Shores community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Patrolman Hemilright.

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

Agency

Department Southern Shores Police Department

Location Southern Shores, NC

Platform Identity sspd.dare.nc.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch January 14, 2000

Tour of Duty 20 yrs

Age 62

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Cardiac

Patrolman Francis Duon Hemilright is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In NC, 33 of 664 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 5% of this state's fallen. That is 1 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.

Southern Shores Police Department

of 1 officers

100% Cardiac

NC — Statewide

of 664 officers

5% Cardiac

Nationwide

1,306

of 32,508 officers

4% Cardiac

National Cause Distribution

How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Francis Duon Hemilright's cause is highlighted.

Felonious

17,623 (54.2%)

Accident

10,088 (31%)

Illness

2,974 (9.1%)

Cardiac

1,306 (4%)

Undetermined

260 (0.8%)

Suicide

256 (0.8%)

vehicular

1 (0%)

How Francis Duon Hemilright Compares

Age at End of Watch

This officer

Avg for Cardiac: 48.6 years

Years of Service