Roll of Honor
Incident
On October 20, 2000, Lieutenant Galvin and the bomb squad were participating in a training exercise to destroy 1,500 pounds of three-year old fireworks. While unloading the fireworks into a pit, something triggered an explosion on the transport truck, and all of the fireworks ignited. Lieutenant Galvin received second and third-degree burns over 80 percent of his body. He was transported to a local hospital where he died of his injuries two weeks later on November 4, 2000. A second officer was also wounded but recovered.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-KS-0D356C08- 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
20 years. You could have gone home.
Lieutenant Galvin gave the Wichita Police Department 20 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Wichita community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Lieutenant Galvin.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Lieutenant John Eugene Galvin 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 KS, 66 of 335 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 19.7% of this state's fallen. That is 11.3 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Wichita Police Department, 6 of 24 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 25% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Eugene Galvin's cause is highlighted.
How John Eugene Galvin Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John Eugene Galvin is highlighted in Nov.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
23 officers from Wichita Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
