William Louis Sherrod
Officer

William Louis Sherrod

Norfolk Police Dept. — Norfolk, VA
Accident
End of Watch September 9, 1920
Age 30
Tour of Duty 1 yrs
The Vigil Panel 39 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Officer William Sherrod was killed when he was struck by a derailing streetcar at the intersection of Granby Street and City Hall Avenue. He was on duty at the intersection and standing between two sets of streetcar tracks. As the Willoughby Express streetcar approached the automatic switch failed, causing the streetcar's rear car to switch to the other track as the lead car remained on the main track. Officer Sherrod was facing away from the oncoming streetcar and was fatally struck. Officer Sherrod had served with the Norfolk Police Department for one year.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and one child.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-VA-F9773390
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

You barely got started.
Officer Sherrod gave the Norfolk Police Department 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Norfolk community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Officer Sherrod.

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

Agency

Location Norfolk, VA
Platform Identity npd.norfolk.va.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch September 9, 1920
Tour of Duty 1 yrs
Age 30
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Officer William Louis Sherrod 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 VA, 203 of 654 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31% of this state's fallen.

At Norfolk Police Dept., 17 of 39 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 43.6% of this agency's fallen.

Norfolk Police Dept.
17
of 39 officers
43.6% Accident
VA — Statewide
203
of 654 officers
31% Accident
Nationwide
10,088
of 32,508 officers
31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William Louis Sherrod's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
17,623 (54.2%)
Accident
10,088 (31%)
Illness
2,974 (9.1%)
Cardiac
1,306 (4%)
Undetermined
260 (0.8%)
Suicide
256 (0.8%)
vehicular
1 (0%)

How William Louis Sherrod Compares

Age at End of Watch
30
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years
Years of Service
1
This officer
Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. William Louis Sherrod is highlighted in Sep.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
707
May
847
Jun
795
Jul
897
Aug
937
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897

Incident Location