John Nunn
Agency patch
Sheriff

John Nunn

Apache County Sheriff's Office — St. Johns, AZ
Accident
End of Watch February 28, 1942
Age 54
Tour of Duty 6 yrs
The Vigil Panel 78 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Sheriff John Nunn was killed when a gasoline tanker exploded in downtown St. Johns. He and a citizen had evacuated onlookers after a gasoline tanker caught fire in the entrance to a service garage. As they were returning to the scene, the tanker exploded and the rear of the truck pinned them against a building. Due to their efforts, only one other person was injured. The resulting fire burned down the surrounding block of businesses.

Survivors

Sheriff Nunn was survived by his wife, three sons, and daughter.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-AZ-847F35DF
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.
Sheriff Nunn gave the Apache County Sheriff's Office 6 years.
Thank you for your service to the St. Johns community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sheriff Nunn.

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

Agency

Type Sheriff's Office
Location St. Johns, Apache County, AZ
Platform Identity acso.apache.az.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch February 28, 1942
Tour of Duty 6 yrs
Age 54
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Sheriff John Nunn is one of 1 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 officers honored here.

In AZ, 95 of 330 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 28.8% of this state's fallen. That is 28.8 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

At Apache County Sheriff's Office, 2 of 7 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 28.6% of this agency's fallen.

Apache County Sheriff's Office
2
of 7 officers
28.6% Accident
AZ — Statewide
95
of 330 officers
28.8% Accident
Nationwide
1
of 97,772 officers
0% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Nunn's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
1 (0%)
Accident
1 (0%)
Illness
1 (0%)
Cardiac
1 (0%)
Undetermined
1 (0%)
Suicide
1 (0%)

How John Nunn Compares

Age at Death
54
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years
Years of Service
6
This officer
Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John Nunn is highlighted in Feb.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
708
May
848
Jun
797
Jul
899
Aug
938
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897

Incident Location