Roll of Honor
Incident
Sheriff W.W. Wright and City Marshal David Johnson, of Nevada City, were shot and killed as they rode with a posse attempting to recapture three inmates who had escaped from the Nevada County Jail. A second posse had secreted themselves in a remote area at Gold Ravine, near Gold Flat, believing the escapees would go to that area. Sheriff Wright and Marshal Johnson were in a second posse who also went to that area and became suspicious when they saw horses tied to a tree. As members of the second posse approached the horses they were confronted by members of the first posse. The two posses exchanged fire in a case of mistaken identity and both Sheriff Wright and Marshal Johnson received fatal wounds.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-CA-9DF5D249- 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
170 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Sheriff Wright served with the Nevada County Sheriff's Office.
Thank you for your service to the Nevada City community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sheriff W. W. Wright 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 CA, 719 of 1,837 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 39.1% of this state's fallen. That is 8.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Nevada County Sheriff's Office, 1 of 3 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.3% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. W. W. Wright's cause is highlighted.
How W. W. Wright Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. W. W. Wright is highlighted in Nov.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
2 officers from Nevada County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.
