Robert J. Shaw

Monterey County Sheriff's Office — Salinas, CA

Cardiac

End of Watch April 9, 1988

Age 32

Tour of Duty 9 yrs

The Vigil Panel 133 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 8

Incident

Deputy Sheriff Robert Shaw suffered a fatal heart attack while conducting crowd control at a riot. He and other deputies were on post at the Grand Prix Championship motorcycle race at Laguna Seca Raceway when a group of approximately 400 people began creating a disturbance. Dressed in riot gear, the deputies attempted to stop the riot, at which time Deputy Shaw suffered a heart attack. Other deputies performed CPR on him while surrounded by a ring of deputies holding the crowd back. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. Deputy Shaw had served with the Monterey County Sheriff's Office for nine years.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and two daughters.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-CA-F2D2B833
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.
Deputy Sheriff Shaw gave the Monterey County Sheriff's Office 9 years.
Thank you for your service to the Salinas community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Shaw.

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

Agency

Department Monterey County Sheriff's Office

Location Salinas, CA

Platform Identity mcso.monterey.ca.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch April 9, 1988

Tour of Duty 9 yrs

Age 32

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Cardiac

Deputy Sheriff Robert J. Shaw 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 CA, 52 of 1,837 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 2.8% of this state's fallen. That is 1.2 percentage points below the national rate of 4%.

At Monterey County Sheriff's Office, 1 of 9 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 11.1% of this agency's fallen.

Monterey County Sheriff's Office

of 9 officers

11.1% Cardiac

CA — Statewide

of 1,837 officers

2.8% Cardiac

Nationwide

1,306

of 32,508 officers

4% Cardiac