Philadelphia Police Department, Pennsylvania
End of Watch: Tuesday, August 8, 1978
Age: 52
Tour of Duty: 23 years
Badge Number: 2989
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: August 8, 1978
Weapon Used: Rifle
Suspect Info: Sentenced to 30 to 100 years
Police Officer James Ramp was shot and killed during a standoff with a radical group known as MOVE.
A shootout resulted when Officer Ramp and several other officers tried to evict 12 adults and 11 children from their headquarters at 33rd and Pearl Streets. Officer Ramp was shot from the MOVE house while pushing someone else out of the line of fire. Four other officers, five firefighters, and three bystanders were also shot and wounded. All 12 adults were taken into custody.
Nine of the 12 were convicted of third-degree murder and sentenced to 30 to 100 years in prison. Two subjects died in prison on March 17th, 1998. All subjects were paroled by 2020.
Officer Ramp was a United States Marine Corps WWII and Korean War veteran who served with the Philadelphia Police Department for 23 years. He was survived by his wife and son.
He is in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Cheltenham, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.