Philadelphia Police Department, Pennsylvania
End of Watch: Friday, June 5, 2015
Age: 55
Tour of Duty: 33 years
Badge Number: 1869
Cause of Death: Training accident
Date of Incident: October 27, 2014
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Police Officer Walter DeWitt died from complications of surgery to correct a shoulder injury he suffered in a training accident on October 27th, 2014.
He had initially injured the shoulder in an on-duty vehicle crash on November 19th, 1984. The shoulder was re-injured in 2014 during a tactical training exercise. A recruit had stepped on his foot, causing him to fall backwards onto the floor. His shoulder injury was aggravated and required a follow-up surgery. He died from complications of the surgery.
Officer DeWitt had served with the Philadelphia Police Department for 33 years.