Roll of Honor
Incident
Chief of Police Christopher Cummings suffered a fatal heart attack after assisting with the dismantling of a beaver dam.
The beaver dam was obstructing roads and causing flooding. Chief Cummings worked with other officers to tear down the structure, which was solid and difficult to tear apart. He stated that he did not feel well and was going back to the station. An hour later, when officers returned to the station, they found Chief Cummings unresponsive. Despite resuscitation efforts, he was pronounced deceased.
Chief of Police Cummings was a United States Army and Tennessee National Guard Iraq War veteran. He had served with the Samburg Police Department for two years and previously served with the Obion Sheriff's Office for three years and the Union City Police Department for 24 years.
Survivors
He is survived by his son, mother, father, girlfriend, and stepson.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-TN-D6472021- 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 served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Chief of Police Cummings gave the Samburg Police Department 29 years.
Thank you for your service to the Samburg community. Thank you for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
Christopher Byard Cummings served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.
Chief of Police Christopher Byard Cummings is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In TN, 37 of 769 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 4.8% of this state's fallen. That is 0.8 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Christopher Byard Cummings's cause is highlighted.
How Christopher Byard Cummings Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Christopher Byard Cummings is highlighted in Dec.