Roll of Honor
Incident
Patrolman John Shanahan and Patrolman Walter O'Neill were accidentally shot and killed while chasing hold-up suspects. Patrolman Shanahan was on plainclothes duty looking for several hold-up men who were committing robberies in the area. He stopped four youths and, after searching them, asked them to accompany him to the station house for questioning. As the youths were walking with Patrolman Shanahan they saw a patrolman in uniform in a traffic booth at the corner of Leonard Street and Hudson Boulevard (modern day Kennedy Boulevard). Patrolman O'Neill, also in plainclothes, was standing about 10 feet from the traffic booth. Suddenly all of the suspects fled on foot toward the traffic booth, and one youth yelled to the uniformed patrolman, "Stop that man, he's holding us up." Patrolman Shanahan drew his weapon and fired one shot at the fleeing suspects. Upon hearing the youths cry for help and seeing Patrolman Shanahan firing at them, Patrolman O'Neill drew his weapon and ran toward them. When Patrolman Shanahan saw Patrolman O'Neill, in plainclothes, approaching with a gun, he shot and killed him. At this point, the traffic officer exited his booth, and fired at Patrolman Shanahan, striking him two times, killing him.
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- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NJ-9003992A- 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.
Patrolman Shanahan served with the Jersey City Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Jersey City community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Patrolman Shanahan.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Patrolman John J. Shanahan is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In NJ, 258 of 646 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 39.9% of this state's fallen. That is 8.9 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Jersey City Police Department, 21 of 41 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 51.2% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John J. Shanahan's cause is highlighted.
How John J. Shanahan Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John J. Shanahan is highlighted in Mar.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
40 officers from Jersey City Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
