John O'Mayer

Baltimore Police Dept. — Baltimore, MD

Accident

End of Watch November 13, 1856

Age 23

The Vigil Panel 2 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 150

Incident

Night Watchman John O'Mayer succumbed to a gunshot wound sustained 11 days earlier when he accidentally shot himself in the arm while attempting to quell a riot on election day.

The wound became so infected that a portion of his arm had to be amputated. Despite the amputation, Watchman O'Mayer developed lockjaw and passed away several days later.

Watchman O'Mayer was survived by his wife and child.

Survivors

Watchman O'Mayer was survived by his wife and child.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-MD-6BDEF2A0
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

170 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Night Watchman O'Mayer served with the Baltimore City Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Baltimore community. Gone but never to be forgotten.

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

Agency

Department Baltimore Police Dept.

Location Baltimore, MD

Platform Identity baltpd.baltimore.md.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch November 13, 1856

Age 23

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Cause Detail Gunfire (Inadvertent)

Night Watchman John O'Mayer 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 MD, 140 of 377 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 37.1% of this state's fallen. That is 6.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.

At Baltimore Police Dept., 52 of 151 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 34.4% of this agency's fallen.

Baltimore Police Dept.

of 151 officers

34.4% Accident

MD — Statewide

140

of 377 officers

37.1% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident