LONDON – A railroad detective shot down in 1927 and a university police officer who died nine years after suffering his fatal injuries were among Ohio law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty since 1823 and were remembered in ceremonies this week.
Officers from around the state gathered as the names of officers who died in 2015 were among those added to the names on Ohio Fallen Officers’ Memorial Wall, located at the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy during the annual Ohio Peace Officers’ Memorial Ceremony Thursday.
A total of 770 law enforcement officers are honored on the wall, according to the office of Ohio attorney general Mike DeWine.
A moment of silence was also observed for Columbus SWAT Officer Steven Smith and Danville Police Officer Thomas Cottrell and, who were killed in the line of duty this year and will be formally honored during the 2017 ceremony.
Among those honored included three officers who died in 2015:
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Michael Brandle, who suffered a fatal heart attack in May 2015 while participating in sniper training.
Officer Sonny Kim, of the Cincinnati Police Department, killed June 19 in a shootout on a residential street by a bullet that pierced his body armor. Another Cincinnati officer shot and killed the suspect.
Ohio University Police Department Officer Nathan Van Oort, Sr., was taking part in the Law Enforcement Torch Run for the Special Olympics near Logan in 2006 when a bolt of lightning struck the shelter where he and other participants were eating lunch, injuring four people. Van Oort, 53, died on November 7 from the injuries he received more than nine years earlier.
Detective Alfred Knight, of Dayton, who was working for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Police Department when he was shot and killed in a gun battle with a man found riding in a boxcar on Sept. 15, 1927. He was nominated for induction to the memorial after research uncovered the incident.
This was the first year that K-9 officers have been recognized. The names of Falko of the Toledo Police Department, Andy of the Vermilion Police Department, Bungee of the New Albany Police Department, Cero of the Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Office and Bandit of the Cincinnati Police Department have been added to a plaque.
Meanwhile, family members of fallen personnel and former and current employees of the Ohio State Highway Patrol join together Friday at the patrol’s training facility near the Ohio Expo Center to recognize 39 troopers, liquor enforcement agent and five support personnel killed in the line of duty since 1933.