Roll of Honor
Incident
Police Officer John Loughery was killed when his horse fell on top of him after he fell off it at 29th Street near Passyunk Avenue.
Shortly before 2:00 am, he had just finished speaking to a fellow mounted officer when they split up to patrol by themselves. While riding his horse it became frightened by an object lying in the middle of the road and threw him. He struck his head on a lamp post and his horse to fall on top of him.
His partner had decided to join him at the last minute and found Officer Loughrey several minutes after the accident. He managed to pull Officer Loughrey from underneath his horse and summoned help at their police district. He was taken to St. Agnes Hospital where it was discovered he was suffering from a fractured skull, broken nose, and several broken ribs. Surgery was performed on his brain to relieve pressure but he succumbed to his injuries 10 hours later.
Officer Loughery had served with the Philadelphia Police Department for 14 months and was assigned to the 17th Police District.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife, and three children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-94840870- 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
135 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Police Officer Loughery gave the Philadelphia Police Department 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Philadelphia community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Officer John Loughery 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 PA, 417 of 1,261 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.1% of this state's fallen. That is 2.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Philadelphia Police Department, 110 of 378 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 29.1% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Loughery's cause is highlighted.
How John Loughery Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John Loughery is highlighted in Aug.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
377 officers from Philadelphia Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
