Willie Neal Jr.

St. Louis County Police Department — Clayton, MO

Veteran → Accident

End of Watch January 29, 1997

Age 29

Tour of Duty 6 yrs

The Vigil Panel 143 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Military Department 10

Incident

Police Officer Willie Neal was shot and killed while performing an undercover drug buy at approximately 4:00 pm. Officer Neal and his partner had agreed to meet the suspect in a liquor store parking lot in the 5900 block of Natural Bridge Avenue at 4:00 pm. During the exchange, the man produced a gun and pointed it at Officer Neal. Officer Nea's partner shot at the suspect but inadvertently struck Officer Neal. The offender involved with the drug buy was later arrested and charged with felony murder. He plead guilty and was sentenced to eight years in prison. Officer Neal had served with the St. Louis County Police Department for six years.

Survivors

He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-MO-7BCA6B4D
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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Also honored at salute.nw — U.S. Army. One record, 2 gates. Willie is one person.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Police Officer Neal gave the St. Louis County Police Department 6 years.
Thank you for your service to the Clayton community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Neal.

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

Agency

Department St. Louis County Police Department

Type Police Department

Location Clayton, MO

Platform Identity slcpd.stlouis.mo.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch January 29, 1997

Tour of Duty 6 yrs

Age 29

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Weapon Officer's handgun

Military Service

Willie Neal Jr. served in the U.S. Army (1988â1990) before joining law enforcement.

View full service record on salute.nw →

Police Officer Willie Neal Jr. is one of 1 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,784 officers honored here.

In MO, 237 of 813 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 29.2% of this state's fallen. That is 29.2 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

At St. Louis County Police Department, 3 of 11 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 27.3% of this agency's fallen.

St. Louis County Police Department

of 11 officers

27.3% Accident

MO — Statewide

237

of 813 officers

29.2% Accident

Nationwide

of 97,784 officers

0% Accident