Roll of Honor
Incident
Master Deputy James Kirk suffered a heart attack during a combat firearms training at the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office range on Reservoir Road.
He had just completed the course, which involved a simulated officer down event in which he had to engage targets while moving a 125-pound sandbag to a cover. He collapsed as he walked back to the staging area.
Deputy Kirk had served with the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office for three years after having retired from the Lancaster Police Department with 25 years of service.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife and four children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-SC-F9499146- 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
28 years. You could have gone home.
Master Deputy Kirk gave the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office 28 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Lancaster community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Master Deputy Kirk.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Master Deputy James Lester Kirk, Jr. 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 SC, 20 of 438 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 4.6% of this state's fallen. That is 0.6 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
At Lancaster County Sheriff's Dept., 1 of 2 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 50% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. James Lester Kirk, Jr.'s cause is highlighted.
How James Lester Kirk, Jr. Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. James Lester Kirk, Jr. is highlighted in Apr.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
1 officer from Lancaster County Sheriff's Dept. are honored on badge.nw.
