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Detective Sergeant

John T. Grant

Erie Police Department — Erie, PA

Felonious

End of Watch November 22, 1912

Age 39

Tour of Duty 11 yrs

The Vigil Panel 27 ›

Gender Male

Incident Media Service The Sacrifice Memorials 1 Department 13

Incident

Detective Sergeant Grant was shot and killed at 2300 hours in the 700 block of Parade Street while he and another detective attempted to arrest a man wanted for stabbing another man with a pitchfork. Both had robbed a liquor store the night before. The suspect knew that the officers were coming for him and waited at his kitchen table with a Springfield rifle. When Detective Sergeant Grant knocked on the door the suspect shot through it, killing Detective Sergeant Grant instantly. The suspect ran out the back door as the other detective ran to the front to check on Detective Sergeant Grant after hearing the gunshot. The next day 20 officers surrounded a building where the suspect had barricaded himself in the attic. A shot fired at the officers resulted in a 10 minute fusilade of bullets that riddled the building as more than 2000 people watched. After three bullets passed through the suspects neck he shot himself in the head. If not for an ambulance at the scene and the hospital two blocks away he would have died from a loss of blood. He was released from the hospital two weeks later and jailed for murder. The suspect, 23, was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 20 years. He was paroled in 1923. A few days later on November 22, 1923. Erie Police officers found themselves in the same situation they were in 10 years earlier. The suspect had robbed a citizen of his money and watch and then barricaded himself in a house when officers tried to arrest him. This time he was talked into surrendering. Detective Sergeant Grant served with the Erie Police Department for 11 years. On April 1, 2003 - 81 years after his murder - Detective Sergeant Grant was posthumously awarded the department's Medal of Honor.

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Added to badge.nw: August 2, 2026
Last updated: August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Detective Sergeant Grant gave the Erie Police Department 11 years.
Thank you for your service to the Erie community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Detective Sergeant Grant.

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

Agency

Department Erie Police Department

Type Police Department

Location Erie, Erie County, PA

Platform Identity epd.erie.pa.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch November 22, 1912

Tour of Duty 11 yrs

Age 39

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Weapon Rifle

The Sacrifice · Felonious

John is one of 15,743 officers killed feloniously in the United States, 57.1% of the 27,551 remembered there.

34,117 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

Compare against

Time

In 1912, 133 officers in the United States were killed feloniously, the 33rd heaviest of 213 years on record. The heaviest was 1921, with 248.

Every year on record · United States

Who

John was 39. Of the 14,220 killed feloniously in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 31 and 47; the middle age was 38. John had served 11 years; the middle length of service was 6 years.

Age at death

Where he stood among them

Age by years of service

III

When

November holds 8.1% of these deaths in the United States; December holds the most, 9.4%. Fridays: 14.3%.

By month

By day of the week

How

Felonious deaths account for 57.1% of all 27,551 deaths in the United States, the most common cause. The weapon recorded was rifle, in 5.9% of these deaths.

Every cause

Weapons recorded