Roll of Honor
Incident
Sergeant John Ashley suffered a fatal heart attack while chasing a dog for a short distance.
The dog had run away from a little girl in the 1600 block of 30th Street, NW. After he collapsed, he was transported to George Washington University Hospital, where he passed away 30 minutes later.
Sergeant Ashley had served with the Metropolitan Police Department for seven years and was assigned to the Second District.
The dog had run away from a little girl in the 1600 block of 30th Street, NW. After he collapsed, he was transported to George Washington University Hospital, where he passed away 30 minutes later.
Survivors
He is survived by his daughter, mother, and father.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-DC-51EBA5CE- 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
I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Sergeant Ashley gave the Metropolitan Police Department 7 years.
Thank you for your service to the Washington community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Ashley.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sergeant John Samuel Ashley 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 DC, 71 of 1,419 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%.
At Metropolitan Police Department, 5 of 131 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 3.8% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Samuel Ashley's cause is highlighted.
How John Samuel Ashley Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. John Samuel Ashley is highlighted in May.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
130 officers from Metropolitan Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
