John W. Hennessee

Eastland County Sheriff's Office — Eastland, TX

Felonious

End of Watch July 23, 1924

Age 40

The Vigil Panel 47 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 4

Incident

Deputy Sheriff John Hennessee was shot and killed by a farmer who mistook him for a thief.

The farmer grabbed his shotgun and went outside to confront him. Deputy Hennessee, believing the farmer was one of the suspects, ordered him to drop his weapon. Both men fired at the same time, killing each other.

Deputy Hennessee was survived by his wife.

Survivors

Deputy Hennessee was survived by his wife.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-TX-62077460
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.
Deputy Sheriff Hennessee served with the Eastland County Sheriff's Office.
Thank you for your service to the Eastland community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Hennessee.

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

Agency

Department Eastland County Sheriff's Office

Location Eastland, TX

Platform Identity ecso.eastland.tx.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch July 23, 1924

Age 40

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Cause Detail Gunfire

Weapon Shotgun

Offender Shot and killed

Deputy Sheriff John W. Hennessee 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 TX, 1,463 of 2,421 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 60.4% of this state's fallen. That is 6.2 percentage points above the national rate of 54.2%.

At Eastland County Sheriff's Office, 3 of 5 officers on record were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 60% of this agency's fallen.

Eastland County Sheriff's Office

of 5 officers

60% Felonious

TX — Statewide

1,463

of 2,421 officers

60.4% Felonious

Nationwide

17,623

of 32,508 officers

54.2% Felonious