Roll of Honor
Incident
Patrolman J.W. Kerwin was accidentally shot and killed as he prepared to hand his service revolver to a merchant at 903 East Douglas Avenue.
He had gone to the store to trade the gun for a another revolver that was on display. As he handed his gun over it discharged, striking him in the chest.
Patrolman Kerwin had served with the Wichita Police Department for only eight weeks and had previously served with the Chicago, Illinois, Police Department.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and eight children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-KS-BBF64BE5- 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
138 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Patrolman Kerwin served with the Wichita Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Wichita community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Patrolman J. W. Kerwin 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. J. W. Kerwin's cause is highlighted.
How J. W. Kerwin Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. J. W. Kerwin is highlighted in Mar.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
23 officers from Wichita Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
