Roll of Honor
Incident
Officer John J. Winn died as a result of injuries received in an assault seventeen months earlier. Office Winn was checking the doors of a church and two men attacked him when he entered the dark back stairwell to check the door. They attacked him with a tire iron, leaving him for dead, to take his pistol so they could hold up a liquor store and get money to buy drugs. However, Officer Winn wasn’t dead. He crawled and walked to a local pay phone where he called for an ambulance. His optic nerve was damaged and he went blind right away. Officer Winn lived for another seventeen months, dying as a result of the severe injuries that he sustained in that horrendous beating. Both suspects where apprehended and convicted of assaulting Officer Winn. One was sentenced to 15 to 25 years in prison and the other to 10 to 15 years.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-MA-57518B9A- 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
30 years. You could have gone home.
Police Officer Winn gave the Lowell Police Department 30 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Lowell community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Winn.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Officer John Joseph Winn is one of 1 officers killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 officers honored here.
In MA, 199 of 469 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 42.4% of this state's fallen. That is 42.4 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.
At Lowell Police Department, 3 of 4 officers on record were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 75% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Felonious compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Joseph Winn's cause is highlighted.
How John Joseph Winn Compares
When Felonious Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Felonious deaths across the full memorial record. John Joseph Winn is highlighted in May.
Weapons Used Against Officers
Most common weapons in felonious officer deaths. John Joseph Winn was killed by blunt object.
Others Who Wore This Badge
3 officers from Lowell Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
