John James Mulligan

Boston Police Department — Roxbury Crossing, MA

Felonious

End of Watch September 26, 1993

Age 52

Tour of Duty 27 yrs

The Vigil Panel 139 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 105

Incident

Detective John Mulligan was shot and killed while working a secondary employment detail. He was shot five times in the face, execution-style, as he sat in his car at a store at 972 American Legion Highway. After shooting Detective Mulligan, the two subjects stole his service weapon and fled. Two suspects were arrested and subsequently convicted of first-degree murder and other related charges in 1995. One of the men had his conviction overturned in 2000 and later plead guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter. In September 2006, that subject admitted to his participation in the execution-style killing of Detective Mulligan. The second subject also had his first-degree murder conviction overturned on appeal in 2015. The remaining convictions against the man for possessing the murder weapon and Detective Mulligan's service weapon remained unchanged. Detective Mulligan had served with the Boston Police Department for 27 years.

Survivors

He is survived by his two sons.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-MA-C5D52910
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

27 years. You could have gone home.
Detective Mulligan gave the Boston Police Department 27 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Roxbury Crossing community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Detective Mulligan.

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

Agency

Department Boston Police Department

Location Roxbury Crossing, MA

Platform Identity bpd.suffolk.ma.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch September 26, 1993

Tour of Duty 27 yrs

Age 52

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Weapon Handgun; .25 caliber

Offender Convicted of manslaughter

Detective John James Mulligan 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 MA, 199 of 469 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 42.4% of this state's fallen. That is 11.8 percentage points below the national rate of 54.2%.

At Boston Police Department, 45 of 106 officers on record were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 42.5% of this agency's fallen.

Boston Police Department

of 106 officers

42.5% Felonious

MA — Statewide

199

of 469 officers

42.4% Felonious

Nationwide

17,623

of 32,508 officers

54.2% Felonious