1. No category

Law Enforcement Officers Intentionally
Killed in the Line of Duty — 2013
Vehiclar
assault: 3.3%
Knife or other cutting
instrument: 3.3%
Service
weapon: 3.3%
LAW ENFORCEMENT
OFFICERS SHOT TO
DEATH IN 2013
Firearm that was
not not his or
her own: 90%
and Assaulted, and press clippings.
In 2013, there were 25 incidents nationwide in
which law enforcement officers were killed with
guns that were not their own. An analysis of FBI
data shows that at least thirteen of these
incidents — 52 percent — were committed by
individuals who were likely barred under state or
federal law from either purchasing or possessing
firearms.
Incidents in which Law Enforcement Officers Were Intentionally
Killed With Guns That Were Not Their Own — 2013
Assailant likely
prohibited: 52%
To conduct the analysis, researchers obtained the
FBI’s Law Enforcement Officers Killed and
Assaulted (LEOKA) database covering felonious
deaths of law enforcement and updated it with
additional incidents from press reports. For those
incidents in which an officer was killed with a
firearm that was not his or her own, the
researchers identified the assailant and then
examined state and federal criminal records as
well as contemporaneous newspaper accounts to
determine if the individual was prohibited by law
from either purchasing or possessing firearms.
No evidence
assailant
prohibited: 48%
Law Enforcement Officers Killed with Handguns
Gun violence is a persistent threat to law
enforcement — and preliminary FBI data indicates
that the number of officers killed feloniously with
firearms rose 77 percent since 2013.1 While no
single policy can completely ensure officers’ safety,
strong gun laws that reduce the flow of guns to
criminals can help save lives. Loopholes in our
current laws make it all too easy for dangerous
people who are prohibited from possessing guns
to dodge a background check and buy a gun from
an unlicensed seller. Expanding background
checks to cover all gun sales — including those
online — will protect cops. In states that require
background checks for unlicensed sales of
handguns, police are 48 percent less likely to be
killed with handguns. 2
80
Law enforcement gun homicides per 100,000 officers
70
60
48%
50
40
35.4
30
20
10
0
-1-
67.9
STATES THAT DO NOT REQUIRE A
BACKGROUND CHECK FOR PRIVATE
HANDGUN SALES
STATES THAT REQUIRE A
BACKGROUND CHECK FOR PRIVATE
HANDGUN SALES
SHOOTER LIKELY PROHIBITED: 13 INCIDENTS
JANUARY 26 | ST. MARY PARISH, LOUISIANA
Massachusetts handgun permit. In 2011, a Maine resident legally
purchased the Ruger P95 used in the crime along with multiple
other handguns at a Cabela’s store in Maine, and then passed
the gun to a Portland gang member in an unlicensed transfer,
from whom Tsarnaev likely obtained the gun.8
Using a shotgun, Wilbert Thibodeaux, 48, shot and killed
Sergeant Frederick Albert Riggenbach and shot and wounded
Deputies Matthew Strickland and Jason Javier. The officers were
responding to reports of a man with a long gun walking on a
road near a casino and acting suspiciously; as officers
approached him, Thibodeaux opened fire. At the time of the
incident he was wanted on felony assault charges in Texas,
which prohibited him from purchasing, receiving, or transporting
firearms.3
JUNE 29 | HOOD COUNTY, TEXAS
Ricky Don McCommas, 49, shot and killed Sergeant Lance Allen
McLean, 38, of the Hood County Sheriff’s Office when the
officer arrived at the scene of a domestic call. Other responding
officers subsequently shot and killed McCommas. At the time of
the shooting, McCommas was under indictment for felony rape
of a child, which prohibited him from purchasing, receiving, or
transporting firearms.9
FEBRUARY 28 | ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA
Eriese Tisdale, 25, shot and killed Sergeant Gary Morales of the
St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office after the officer pulled him over
for speeding; when Morales approached Tisdale’s vehicle,
Tisdale opened fire, killing the officer. In 2010, Tisdale was
convicted of felony drug possession, which prohibited him from
possessing firearms.4
SEPTEMBER 9 | LUDINGTON, MICHIGAN
Eric John Knysz, 19, shot and killed Michigan State Trooper Paul
Kenyon Butterfield, 43, after the officer pulled him over for
having a loud muffler. Knysz was driving on a suspended license
and had concealed firearms in his vehicle; when Butterfield
approached Knysz’s truck, Knysz fired out of the driver’s side
window without warning, striking and killing Butterfield. In 2008,
Kynsz pled guilty to felony first-degree home invasion in Lake
County and was convicted as an adult, which prohibited him
from possessing firearms.10
MARCH 19 | MONUMENT, COLORADO
Evan Ebel, 28, rang the doorbell of Thomas Lynn Clements, the
Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Corrections.
As Clements opened the door, Ebel opened fire on Clements,
killing him. Ebel was a member of a white supremacist prison
gang that targeted Clements and other prison officials. His prior
criminal record prohibited him from possessing firearms: On
February 11, 2005, he was convicted of robbery, assault, and
menacing in Jefferson County and was sentenced to eight years
in prison. He was sentenced to an additional four years in 2007
for an assault on a correctional officer in Fremont County.5 Ebel
was out on parole at the time of Clements’ murder, and obtained
the 9mm Smith & Wesson semi-automatic handgun he used in
the shooting from a childhood friend who straw-purchased it at
a licensed gun dealer two weeks prior to the murder.6
SEPTEMBER 13 | ROCKWELL CITY, IOWA
P.D. Corey A. Trott, 32, used a .223- caliber rifle to shoot and kill
Officer Jamie Daniel Buenting while the officer was attempting
to serve him an arrest warrant. Corey was prohibited from
possessing firearms, having pled guilty to a felony charge of
possession of more than one pound of marijuana after a May
2006 arrest in Seward County, Nebraska.11
SEPTEMBER 20 | INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
APRIL 3 | MINGO COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
Steven Byrdo, 24, shot and killed patrol officer Rod. L Bradway,
41, while the officer was responding to a domestic disturbance
call. Byrdo was prohibited from possessing firearms, having pled
guilty in 2011 to felony charges of dealing and possessing
cocaine.12
Tennis Melvin Maynard, 37, ambushed Mingo County Sheriff
Eugene Crum while he sat in his marked vehicle in a parking lot
eating lunch, shooting and killing him. Maynard had been
institutionalized two times on account of severe mental illness,
and as a consequence was prohibited from possessing firearms.
He was able to pass a background check and buy a firearm in
December 2010 because the state had delayed in submitting his
mental health records to the FBI database of prohibited buyers.
Later, once his records had been submitted, the background
check system blocked him from two attempts to buy additional
firearms.7
OCTOBER 2 | UPTON COUNTY, TEXAS
Gary David Green, 50, shot and killed Deputy Sheriff Billy F.
Kennedy, 37. Green was prohibited from possessing firearms:
among other crimes, in 2001 he was convicted of aggravated
assault with bodily injury, for which he was sentenced to ten
years in prison. He was released on parole in July 2011.13
APRIL 18 | BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
DECEMBER 20 | SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and his brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19,
shot and killed patrol officer Sean Collier, 27, with a handgun
during the aftermath of the Boston Marathon terrorist attack,
which they were also charged with perpetrating. Dzhokhar
could not have legally possessed a handgun in the state of
Massachusetts due to his age, and Tamerlan did not have a valid
Shawn Ruiz Puente, 32, and Jenevieve Ramos, 28, were charged
with shooting and killing San Antonio Police Officer Robert
Deckard, 31. At the time of the shooting, the pair were suspects
in a string of fifteen armed robberies. In 2011, Puente pled guilty
to a felony domestic violence charge, which prohibited him from
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purchasing, receiving, or transporting firearms. 14
possession of marijuana, but neither of these offenses prohibited
him from possessing guns.21
DECEMBER 20 | COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS
MARCH 19 | ELDON, ALASKA
Brandon Jackson, 22, used a .44 caliber gun to shoot and kill
Cook County Police Officer Cuauhtemoc Estrada, 50. Jackson
was prohibited from possessing firearms due to having been
convicted of felony residential burglary and theft in 2009.15
Leroy Dick, 42, shot and killed Public Safety Officer Thomas Olaf
Madole, 54, while the officer was responding to a domestic
disturbance call. Dick had an extensive criminal record that
included no-contest pleas for disorderly conduct, resisting
arrest, and criminal trespassing in 1995 — all misdemeanors;
fourth-degree assault in 1996, for which he pled to a lesser
misdemeanor charge; and drunken driving and fourth-degree
escape, both misdemeanors, in 1997. But these offenses did not
prohibit him from possessing firearms. 22
DECEMBER 23 | TUPELO, MISSISSIPPI
Mario Edward Garnett, 40, shot and killed Sergeant Kevin Gale
Stauffer, 38, during a bank robbery. In 2011, Garnett was
convicted for threatening the President of the United States. The
judge prohibited him from possessing firearms and ordered him
to participate in a program of mental health aftercare upon his
release.16
JULY 14 | KILLEEN, TEXAS
Dustin Billy Cole, 24, used an AK-47 to shoot and kill officer
Robert Layden Hornsby, 32, and wound two other officers while
they were responding to a disturbance call. In 2007, Cole was
convicted of misdemeanor possession of marijuana in Oklahoma
but the offense did not prohibit him from possessing guns.23
SHOOTER NOT PROHIBITED: 12 INCIDENTS
JANUARY 15 | GALT, CALIFORNIA
AUGUST 5 | CHARLOTTE COUNTY, FLORIDA
Humphrey Kenneth Gascon, 30, shot and killed officer Kevin
Andrew Tonn, 35. Gascon had been arrested for driving under
the influence in Nevada but had no criminal history that would
have prohibited him from possessing firearms.17
Jaroslav Vanko, 49, shot and killed Sergeant Michael Lee Wilson,
42, as the officer responded to reports of a domestic
disturbance at Vanko’s home. There is no evidence Vanko had a
prior criminal history that would have prohibited him from
possessing firearms.24
FEBRUARY 2 | BUFFALO, NEW YORK
AUGUST 28 | BALTIMORE COUNTY, MARYLAND
Varner Harris, 18, shot Buffalo police officers Patricia Parete and
Carl Andolina on December 5, 2006, and Parete ultimately died
from her injuries in February 2013. Law enforcement sources
revealed that in January 2005, Harris was arrested for
attempting to rob a pizza deliveryman with two other youths,
one of whom had a gun. In May 2005 he was sentenced to five
years’ probation as a youthful offender, but this did not prohibit
him from possessing firearms.18
Tevon Smith, 25, shot and killed police officer Jason Lee
Schneider, 36, with a .22 caliber handgun. In 2011 Smith was
arrested on two separate occasions for second-degree assault
and possession of a controlled substance, but authorities
declined to prosecute either charge.25 There is no evidence he
was prohibited from possessing firearms.
SEPTEMBER 1 | DRAPER, UTAH
FEBRUARY 3-12 | IRVINE, CALIFORNIA
Timothy Troy Walker, 34, shot and killed Sergeant Derek Ray
Johnson, 32. Johnson had stopped to check a vehicle that
appeared to be disabled or involved in an accident. As he rolled
down the window of his patrol car to speak with one of the
occupants of the vehicle, Walker shot and killed him.26 There is
no evidence Walker had a criminal history that would have
prohibited him from possessing firearms.
Former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner, 33, shot
and killed public safety officer Keith Anthony Lawrence, 27,
police officer Michael Crain, 34, and detective Jeremiah MacKay,
36. Dorner had no criminal history that would have prohibited
him from possessing firearms.19
FEBRUARY 26 | SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA
NOVEMBER 4 | OREGON CITY, OREGON
Jeremy Goulet, 25, shot and killed Sergeant Loran Lee Baker Jr.
and Detective Elizabeth Chase Butler when the officers came to
his home to question him in connection with a sexual assault
charge from the previous week. Though Goulet had previously
been convicted of invasion of privacy and unlawful possession
of a weapon in 2008, those convictions did not prohibit him
from possessing firearms. 20
Lawrence Cambra, 88, shot and killed Officer Robert Allen Libke,
41. Cambra’s girlfriend obtained a restraining order against him
in October 2012, which prohibited him from possessing firearms,
but the order was dismissed on November 5, 2012.27
DECEMBER 19 | BURLESON COUNTY, TEXAS
Henry Magee, 28, shot and killed Sergeant Fredrich Adam
Sowders, 31, while Sowders was attempting to serve him a
warrant. Magee had four guns in his home, all of them legally
owned.28
MARCH 7 | DINWIDDIE COUNTY, VIRGINIA
Russell E. Brown, 28, shot and killed trooper Junius Alvin Walker,
63. In 2006 Brown was convicted of misdemeanor obstruction
of justice and in 2008 he was convicted of misdemeanor
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NOTES
1.
Federal Bureau of Investigation, May 11, 2015, “FBI Releases 2014 Preliminary Statistics for Law Enforcement Officers Killed in the Line of Duty,”
http://1.usa.gov/1KJ2tV4
2.
Everytown for Gun Safety, State Background Check Requirements and Rates of Firearm Homicide Against Law Enforcement, January 2015,
available at http://every.tw/1Aj9JAy.
3.
John DeSantis, “Cop-Slay Suspect Granted ‘Get out of Jail Free’ Card,” The Houma Times, February 13, 2013, http://bit.ly/17jyHZu.
4.
Melissa Holsman, “Eriese Tisdale: Trial Set for End of May for Suspected Killer in Sgt. Morales Slaying,” Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers,
January 7, 2015, http://bit.ly/1cunqYF.
5.
Michael Roberts, “Evan Ebel’s Feces-Smeared Prison Records and Straw Purchase Controversy,” Denver Westword, March 29, 2013, http://bit.
ly/1IsvBxF. Case No. 04CR3622 (Adams County, CO).
6.
Arkadi Gerney, “How a Straw Purchaser Allegedly Enabled the Colorado Prison Chief’s Murder,” ThinkProgress, March 29, 2013,
http://bit.ly/1kT7IIR.
7.
Kate White, “Judge: Accused Killer of Mingo County Sheriff Mentally Incompetent,” The Charleston Gazette, January 15, 2015,
http://bit.ly/1L0C8m8.
8.
Gavin Aronsen, “What We Know About the Tsarnaev Brothers’ Guns,” Mother Jones, April 23, 2013, http://bit.ly/1fnynZC.
9. “Hood County Deputy Dies of Injuries Suffered in Friday Attack,” WFAA.com, January 8, 2014, http://bit.ly/1AtoJki. Case No. F47289 (Johnson
County, TX)
10. John S. Hausman, “Murder Trial Starts Today in Michigan State Police Trooper Slaying in Mason County,” MLive.com, February 18, 2014, http://
bit.ly/1oNbCTv. Court officials in Lake County, Michigan confirmed Knysz’s 2008 felony home invasion conviction.
11. “Details Emerge on Circumstances that Led to Fatal Standoff,” Des Monies Register, September 13, 2013, http://dmreg.co/1JG4zot. Court
officials in Seward County, Nebraska confirmed Trott’s 2006 felony marijuana possession conviction.
12. “Suspect in IMPD Officer’s Fatal Shooting Was Convicted Felon,” WTHR.com (Indianapolis, IN), September 20, 2013, http://bit.ly/1pWgvM3.
Case No. 49G20-1003-FA-016696 (Marion County, IN).
13. Jon Vanderlaan, “Deputy Killed: McCamey Residents Shocked; Few Official Details,” Odessa American, October 3, 2013,
http://bit.ly/1s0qVvW. NCIC Code 13150004 (Johnson County, TX).
14. Mark D. Wilson, “Man Accused in Officer Shooting Faces New Charges,” My San Antonio, Dec. 11, 2013, http://bit.ly/1HcvJ5Y; “Two Face Capital
Murder Indictment in Death of Officer Robert Deckard,” KENS-5 (San Antonio, TX), January 29, 2014, http://bit.ly/1IvNeN9; Adrian Delgado,
“Alleged Burglars Speed through Three Counties,” Pleasanton Express, December 11, 2013, http://bit.ly/TA0le0; See also United States v.
Valentine, 401 F.3d 609, 611 (5th Cir. 2005) (“[W]e conclude that a Texas state defendant who is on probation pursuant to a deferred
adjudication of a felony charge remains, as a matter of law, under indictment.”).
15. Ellen Jean Hirst, “Police: Shoe Prints Lead to Suspects in Officer’s Slaying,” Chicago Tribune, December 23, 2013, http://trib.in/1s9xmOa. Case
No. 2008-CR-1245101 (Cook County, IL).
16. Susanna Capelouto, “Man Shot Dead after Bank Robbery Convicted of Threatening Obama in 2010,” CNN.com, December 29, 2013,
http://cnn.it/1L0HqxP. Court documents confirmed Garnett’s 2011 felony conviction for threatening to kill and inflict bodily harm upon the
President of the United States. Case No. CR-10-333-001-D (United States District Court, Western District Of Oklahoma)
17.
Kim Minugh, “Slain Galt Police Officer Served Others since High School,” Merced Sun-Star, January 17, 2013, http://bit.ly/1DqGBNO.
18. Eileen Buckley, “Varner Harris Accepts Plea Deal in Shooting of Two Police Officers,” WFBO (Buffalo, NY), September 17, 2007,
http://bit.ly/1tOmDE8.
19. “Monica Quan, Keith Lawrence & Michael Crain: Remembering Christopher Dorner’s Alleged Victims,” Huffington Post, February 11, 2013, http://
huff.to/SrWUVy.
20. Jason Hoppin, “Santa Cruz Police Shooting: Suspect Jeremy Goulet Had Gun Conviction, Was Arrested Friday,” Santa Cruz Sentinel, February
26, 2013, http://bit.ly/1At7mxv.
21. “Suspect in Trooper Slaying Has Prior Criminal History,” WRIC (Richmond, VA), March 8, 2013, http://bit.ly/1Ax9gNM.
22. Kyle Hopkins, “Slain VPSO Was Trying to Run When He Was Shot, Troopers Say,” Alaska Dispatch News, March 20, 2013,
http://bit.ly/1kdHpqJ.
23. “Soldier Who Killed Local Police Officer Identified,” KWTX (Killeen, TX), July 16, 2013, http://bit.ly/1n22JCx.
24. “Charlotte Co. Deputy, Father of 3, Fatally Shot,” WBBH, August 5, 2013, http://bit.ly/1hArwjr.
25. Howard Koplowitz, “Baltimore County Police Officer Jason Schneider Killed by Suspect Tevon Smith in Catonsville Shooting,” International
Business Times, August 29, 2013, http://bit.ly/1w5O8cu.
26. Paul Foy, “Timothy T. Walker, Utah Shooting Suspect, Owed Child Support: Records,” Huffington Post, September 3, 2013,
http://huff.to/1kKFgIf.
27. “Reserve Police Officer Dies after Shooting in Oregon City,” KATU, November 4, 2013, http://bit.ly/1oNiaQs.
28. Radley Balko, “Some Justice in Texas: The Raid on Henry Magee,” Washington Post, February 10, 2014, http://t/1tGFZwC.
EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY SUPPORT FUND is an independent, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization working to improve
understanding of the causes of gun violence and the means to reduce it by conducting groundbreaking original research, developing
evidence-based solutions, and communicating these recommendations to advocates, lawmakers, and the public. Every day 88
Americans are killed with guns, but research shows that common-sense public safety laws can reduce gun violence and save lives.
THE MAJOR CITIES CHIEFS ASSOCIATION (MCCA) is a professional organization of police executives representing the largest cities in the
United States and Canada. The MCC provides a unique forum for urban police, sheriffs, and other law enforcement chief executives to
discuss common problems, and to share information and problem-solving strategies. MCC articulates the public safety needs of large
cities in the formulation of criminal justice policy.
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