Roll of Honor
Incident
Chief Terry was accidentally shot and killed with his own service weapon while attempting to place it in his holster. He was just returning to duty after eating lunch at home and bent down to pick something up. As he did so his gun slipped out of his shoulder holster. When he attempted to re-holster it his finger brushed the trigger, discharging the weapon.
Survivors
Chief Terry had been with the agency for one year and was survived by his wife and children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-WA-7118EEE7- 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.
Chief of Police Terry gave the Colville Police Department 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Colville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Chief of Police Terry.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Chief of Police William L. Terry 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 WA, 111 of 339 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 32.7% of this state's fallen. That is 1.7 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Colville Police Department, 1 of 3 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.3% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William L. Terry's cause is highlighted.
How William L. Terry Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. William L. Terry is highlighted in Jul.
Others Who Wore This Badge
2 officers from Colville Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
