Washington D.C. Metro Officer suffered heart attack while behind a stolen car

Sergeant Gerard W. Burke Jr.
Metropolitan Police Department
District of Columbia
End of Watch: Thursday, March 23, 2006

Biographical Info
Age: 39
Tour of Duty: 16 years
Badge Number: Not available

Incident Details
Cause of Death: Heart attack
Date of Incident: Thursday, March 23, 2006
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available

Sergeant Burke suffered a fatal heart attack while following what he believed to be a stolen vehicle on 11th Street, NW. Although off duty, Sergeant Burke noticed the vehicle and called dispatch to request backup in order to stop it. A short distance later Sergeant Burke's vehicle crossed the center line, struck a parked car, and then struck a moving vehicle.

It was determined that Sergeant Burke had suffered a heart attack, which in turn cased the the crash. The vehicle he was following was reported stolen three hours after the incident and recovered early the following morning.

Sergeant Burke had served with the agency for 16 years and was assigned to the 3rd District. He had received the Sergeant of the Year Award for the 3rd District in 2005. He is survived by his fiancee.

Agency Contact Information
Metropolitan Police Department
300 Indiana Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001

Phone: (202) 727-4383

* Please contact the agency for funeral information

Not many people think of a heart attack as a line of duty death. We lost an officer 2 years ago while he was working out at a gym while on duty. Our departmet allows officers 1 1/2 hours a day for personal training. He was at the gym, he finished lifting, and went to stretch out afterward. A staff member noticed he was laying on the mats on his back for quite a while and went to check on him. The staff then called for an ambulance that transported him to the hospital.

That officer will be honored this year at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. He has a police cruiser door with department member signatures on display at the museum. He's having his name engraved on the memorial wall this year. For those of you that attend the memorial service, be sure to look up:

Officer Billy Gregory
Durham Police Department
Durham, NC

Happens all too often... :(