Robert J. Shannon

East Orange Police Department — East Orange, NJ

Felonious

End of Watch December 15, 1915

Age 37

The Vigil Panel 30 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 4

Incident

Detective Robert Shannon and Detective William Mertz, of the Bloomfield Police Department, were shot and killed while they and two other officers attempted to arrest a murder suspect. The other two officers were wounded. Detective Mertz succumbed to his wounds three days after the shooting. The 57-year-old suspect was apprehended in Newberg, New York on August 27, 1916. Two months later he was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to death. His sentence was later commuted to life.

Survivors

Detective Shannon was survived by his wife and two sons.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-NJ-0F34CCEC
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

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Detective Shannon served with the East Orange Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the East Orange community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Detective Shannon.

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

Agency

Department East Orange Police Department

Location East Orange, NJ

Platform Identity eopd.essex.nj.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch December 15, 1915

Age 37

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Weapon Shotgun

Offender Sentence commuted to life

Detective Robert J. Shannon 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 NJ, 264 of 646 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 40.9% of this state's fallen. That is 13.3 percentage points below the national rate of 54.2%.

At East Orange Police Department, 3 of 5 officers on record were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 60% of this agency's fallen.

East Orange Police Department

of 5 officers

60% Felonious

NJ — Statewide

264

of 646 officers

40.9% Felonious

Nationwide

17,623

of 32,508 officers

54.2% Felonious