Roll of Honor
Incident
Lieutenant John McKinney suffered a fatal heart attack following a tactical shooting exercise at the department's range.
He was immediately transported to Hamilton Medical Center where he passed away.
Lieutenant McKinney had served with the agency for 21 years.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife, two sons, mother, brother, two granddaughters, and two step-grandchildren.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-GA-6B446E20- 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
21 years. You could have gone home.
Lieutenant McKinney gave the Whitfield County Sheriff's Office 21 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Dalton community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Lieutenant McKinney.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Lieutenant John William McKinney 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 GA, 23 of 903 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 2.5% of this state's fallen. That is 1.5 percentage points below the national rate of 4%.
At Whitfield County Sheriff's Office, 1 of 3 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 33.3% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John William McKinney's cause is highlighted.
How John William McKinney Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. John William McKinney is highlighted in Dec.
Others Who Wore This Badge
2 officers from Whitfield County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.
