Roll of Honor
Incident
Officer Thomas Hamlette was shot and killed while assisting a security guard during a scuffle at a nightclub at 1213 K Street, NW.
Officer Hamlette attempted to remove a rowdy patron from the club when the scuffle ensued. During the scuffle, Officer Hamlette's weapon discharged, catching the attention of another off-duty Metropolitan police officer who was patronizing the club. The second officer tried to intervene in the scuffle and identified himself as a police officer.
Not knowing Officer Hamlette was an officer, too, he ordered him to drop his weapon. Officer Hamlette turned around and was then shot by the other officer.
Officer Hamlette's brother-in-law, Officer Anthony Simms of the Metropolitan Police Department, was killed in 1996 after being struck by a vehicle while making a traffic stop.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-DC-74337DB6- 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
You barely got started.
Officer Hamlette gave the Metropolitan Police Department 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Washington community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Officer Hamlette.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Officer Thomas Franklin Hamlette, Jr. 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 DC, 454 of 1,419 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 32% of this state's fallen. That is 1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Metropolitan Police Department, 48 of 131 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 36.6% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Thomas Franklin Hamlette, Jr.'s cause is highlighted.
How Thomas Franklin Hamlette, Jr. Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Thomas Franklin Hamlette, Jr. is highlighted in Jul.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
130 officers from Metropolitan Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
