On November 2nd, 1973, Officer Hemschmeyer was killed in a traffic accident while responding to another officer’s call for assistance. A sedan that had pulled over for the officer’s emergency lights was struck from behind by a garbage truck. The force of the collision threw the vehicle into the path of the approaching patrol car, killing the officer. Officer Hemschmeyer was thirty-two years old at the time of his death and a four year veteran of the Phoenix Police Department.
