Roll of Honor
Incident
Officer Ryan and Patrolman W. I. Wright were killed when their patrol car drove off of a bridge and fell 30-feet to the ground. Patrolman Wright died on the scene and Officer Ryan succumbed to his injuries the following day. Officer Ryan had been with the agency for seven years.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-TN-273DE80B- 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.
Officer Ryan gave the Nashville City Police Department 7 years.
Thank you for your service to the Nashville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Officer Ryan.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Officer John Ryan 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 TN, 191 of 769 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 24.8% of this state's fallen. That is 6.2 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Nashville City Police Department, 6 of 22 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 27.3% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Ryan's cause is highlighted.
How John Ryan Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John Ryan is highlighted in Mar.
Others Who Wore This Badge
21 officers from Nashville City Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
