On Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, the Lower Township Police Department will commemorate the 31st anniversary of fallen comrade, Officer David C. Douglass, Sr., who was killed in the line of duty on Feb. 18, 1994, after exchanging gunfire with a suspect who had just burglarized a home and then set it on fire.
Officer Douglass was dispatched to a suspicious person call in the area of North Cape May. As he pursued a burglary suspect on foot, the suspect turned and shot him. Officer Douglass was able to return fire, striking the suspect in the hand, and was able to make it back to his patrol car to call for assistance, but did not survive the attack.
Following an intensive investigation, Lower Township Police, along with several other assisting agencies, arrested the suspect in New York City in April 1994.
The flags at Township Hall and the Police Department will be flown at half-staff and a memorial wreath will be placed near the flagpole at the Town Bank Fire House in honor of Douglass.
There will also be a brief ceremony later that evening at approximately 7:15 p.m. at the gravesite, located at the Cold Spring Presbyterian Church, (780 Seashore Rd, Cape May, NJ 08204). This ceremony will correspond with the time Officer Douglass responded to his last call. Dispatch will transmit Officer Douglass’ End of Watch broadcast for LTPD, and all fire sirens in the township will be activated in memory of Douglass, who was also a Town Bank firefighter.
