William Keith Thurston
Agency patch
Sergeant

William Keith Thurston

Accident
End of Watch December 10, 1986
Age 46
Tour of Duty 25 yrs
Badge 3347
The Vigil Panel 131 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Sergeant William Thurston was responding to a disturbance call with another deputy when his patrol unit was struck on the drivers side by another vehicle. Thurston was extricated from the vehicle by the local fire department and transported to the local hospital in Denton. He was later flown to Harris Hospital in Ft. Worth where he passed away.

Survivors

Sergeant Thurston had served with the agency for 25 years and was survived by his wife and three children.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-TX-D757061B
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

25 years. You could have gone home.
Sergeant Thurston gave the Denton County Sheriff's Office 25 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Denton community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Thurston.

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

Agency

Type Sheriff's Office
Location Denton, Denton County, TX
Platform Identity dcso.denton.tx.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch December 10, 1986
Tour of Duty 25 yrs
Age 46
Badge Number 3347
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Sergeant William Keith Thurston 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 TX, 657 of 2,422 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 27.1% of this state's fallen. That is 27.1 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

At Denton County Sheriff's Office, 1 of 4 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 25% of this agency's fallen.

Denton County Sheriff's Office
1
of 4 officers
25% Accident
TX — Statewide
657
of 2,422 officers
27.1% 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. William Keith Thurston's cause is highlighted.

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

How William Keith Thurston Compares

Age at Death
46
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years
Years of Service
25
This officer
Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. William Keith Thurston is highlighted in Dec.

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