The Greater Cleveland Peace Officers Memorial Society

09/03/2026

08/31/2026

08/24/2026

Today We Honor
Police Officer Terry McDowell
Whitehall Police Department, Ohio

End of Watch Friday, August 24, 2001

Police Officer Terry McDowell was shot and killed as he and his partner attempted to serve a traffic citation to a woman at her home for driving without a license.

The woman had driven to the police station earlier in the day to pick her husband up after he had been arrested on a DUI charge. When it was discovered the woman did not have a driver's license, the two officers told her to walk home. Officer McDowell and his partner then went to her home to serve the citation.

While the officers were knocking on the door, the woman's husband fired a .357 caliber handgun through the door without warning, striking Officer McDowell in the chest above his vest. He immediately fired a second time, striking Officer McDowell's partner in the face and eye, seriously wounding him. As Officer McDowell's partner retreated and called for assistance, the suspect stood over Officer McDowell's body and shot him several more times. Backup officers arrived on the scene and shot the suspect in the leg. The suspect then walked to the backyard of his house and committed su***de.

The gun used by the suspect was found to have been stolen from the suspect's neighbor, who had been murdered.

Officer McDowell was a United States Army veteran and had served with the Whitehall Police Department for 12 years. He is survived by his wife, an 8-year-old son, and an 11-month-old daughter.