Roll of Honor
Incident
Police Officer John O'Connell was accidentally shot and killed by other officers who mistook him for a burglary suspect. Officer O'Connell and two other officers stopped to talk with a female friend. Two of the officers jokingly attempted to grab Officer O'Connell under the arms. Laughing, Officer O'Connell broke away and started to run. The two officers yelled "stop, thief" as he did so. Three other officers who were nearby, who did not know Officer O'Connell was a policeman, opened fire, striking him in the back.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-KY-5ECDCD79- 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
157 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Police Officer O'Connell served with the Louisville Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Louisville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Officer John O'Connell 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 KY, 161 of 983 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 16.4% of this state's fallen. That is 14.6 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Louisville Police Department, 34 of 91 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 37.4% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John O'Connell's cause is highlighted.
How John O'Connell Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John O'Connell is highlighted in Jul.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
90 officers from Louisville Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
