Roll of Honor
Incident
Patrolman Edward Shay was struck and killed by a train at the intersection of 16th Street and Kentucky Street (modern day 3rd Street) in San Francisco, California.
He was patrolling the Southern Pacific rail yards looking for boxcar thieves. He was standing on one track searching an outbound train. He did not observe an oncoming string of cars being pushed by a switch engine on the track he was standing on. He was struck and run over by the cars.
Patrolman Shay had served with the Southern Pacific Railroad Police Department for four years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and two children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-RR-0E205978- 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.
Patrolman Shay gave the Southern Pacific Railroad Police Department 4 years.
Thank you for your service to the San Francisco community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Patrolman Shay.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Patrolman Edward Shay 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 CA, 719 of 1,837 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 39.1% of this state's fallen. That is 8.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Southern Pacific Railroad Police Department, 8 of 23 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 34.8% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Edward Shay's cause is highlighted.
How Edward Shay Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Edward Shay is highlighted in Jul.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
22 officers from Southern Pacific Railroad Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
