Five officers across D.C., Maryland and Virginia and 10 additional federal officers are part of a large increase in line of duty police deaths in 2024.
According to data from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 147 police officers died in the line of duty last year, a 25% increase from 2023. Of those officers, 52 were fatally shot, Executive Director of the National Law Enforcement Officers Museum Rosa Guixens said.
“We’re up 13% from last year in firearm-related fatalities, and we’re just essentially under attack with this,” Guixens said.
One of the five of area officers killed last year was D.C. police officer Wayne Ellis David. In August, he was accidentally killed when a gun he was retrieving following a police chase inadvertently went off in the area of D.C.-295 and Eastern Avenue in the Kenilworth neighborhood.
Deputy Sheriff Hunter Reedy in Smyth County, Virginia, was also killed by gunfire. He was shot during a traffic stop in August.
Guixens, who previously served as police chief in Riverdale Park, Maryland, said there are too many illegal guns on the streets, and ghost guns are an increasing problem.
“These officers are out here day and night trying to keep us safe, and they are essentially under siege,” she said.
Data from the report shows that, of the 52 officers killed by gunfire, nine were killed during traffic enforcement and eight were attempting to make an arrest. Eight were killed while serving warrants, civil papers or an eviction and five others were ambushed.
The data also shows traffic-related fatalities increased 48%, with 46 deaths in 2024, compared to 31 deaths in 2023.
There are currently 24,067 names of officers killed in the line of duty inscribed on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Downtown D.C., dating back to the first known death in 1786.
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