Roll of Honor

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Sheriff

William A. Phoenix

Amador County Sheriff's Department — Jackson, CA

Felonious

End of Watch August 12, 1855

Age 32

Tour of Duty 1 yrs

The Vigil Panel 2 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice

Incident

Sheriff Phoenix was shot and killed in Tuolumne County after having chased several Mexican bandits from Amador County who had raided, sacked, and killed six citizens in Drytown. The incident became known as the Rancheria Massacre. Twenty Mexicans were later captured and lynched, though most if not all had nothing to do with the massacre. Sheriff Phoenix was killed near Chinese Camp. He was the first sheriff of Amador County.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-CA-D2FA04BB
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

171 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Sheriff Phoenix gave the Amador County Sheriff's Department 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Jackson community. Gone but never to be forgotten.

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

Agency

Department Amador County Sheriff's Department

Location Jackson, CA

Platform Identity acso.amador.ca.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch August 12, 1855

Tour of Duty 1 yrs

Age 32

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Weapon Gun; Unknown type

Offender Not available

Sheriff William A. Phoenix is one of 17,623 officers killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 54.2% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In CA, 974 of 1,837 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 53% of this state's fallen. That is 1.2 percentage points below the national rate of 54.2%.

Amador County Sheriff's Department

of 1 officers

100% Felonious

CA — Statewide

974

of 1,837 officers

53% Felonious

Nationwide

17,623

of 32,508 officers

54.2% Felonious

National Cause Distribution

How Felonious compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William A. Phoenix's cause is highlighted.

Felonious

17,623 (54.2%)

Accident

10,088 (31%)

Illness

2,974 (9.1%)

Cardiac

1,306 (4%)

Undetermined

260 (0.8%)

Suicide

256 (0.8%)

vehicular

1 (0%)

How William A. Phoenix Compares

Age at End of Watch

This officer

Avg for Felonious: 39.0 years

Years of Service

This officer

Avg for Felonious: 8.5 years

Offender Outcome

Not available

When Felonious Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Felonious deaths across the full memorial record. William A. Phoenix is highlighted in Aug.

Jan

1,392

Feb

1,295

Mar

1,373

Apr

1,517

May

1,505

Jun

1,443

Jul

1,587

Aug

1,516

Sep

1,553

Oct

1,371

Nov

1,447

Dec

1,624

Weapons Used Against Officers

Most common weapons in felonious officer deaths. William A. Phoenix was killed by gun; unknown type.

Gun; Unknown type

5,083

Handgun

2,077

Shotgun

922

Officer's handgun

909

Automobile; Alcohol involved

530

Rifle

518