Roll of Honor
Incident
Officer John Butler suffered a fatal heart attack at the scene of a standoff at an apartment on the 3400 block of Blanding Boulevard. He had responded to a call of a man molesting his own daughter, and upon arrival, shots were fired at the officers. Officer Butler was rescuing a woman who had been pinned down between two cars by gunfire coming from the suspect. He ran to her and gave her cover with his body as he returned her to a safe area. He then suffered a fatal heart attack. The suspect was later arrested. Officer Butler had served with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office for 18 years.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife and children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-FL-985A511B- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- August 2, 2026
- Last updated
- August 2, 2026
Honored here by 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Officer Butler gave the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office 18 years.
Thank you for your service to the Jacksonville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Officer Butler.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Officer John Lee Butler Sr. is one of 1 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 officers honored here.
In FL, 62 of 1,008 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 6.2% of this state's fallen. That is 6.2 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.
At Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, 5 of 30 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 16.7% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Lee Butler Sr.'s cause is highlighted.
How John Lee Butler Sr. Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. John Lee Butler Sr. is highlighted in Mar.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
29 officers from Jacksonville Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
