The number of police officers killed by gunfire fell 14 percent from the 49 who were shot and killed in 2014. Seven of those shootings followed traffic stops; six were surprise attacks on officers, such as the
Aug. 29 slaying of sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforthat a gas station in suburban Houston.
The 2015 figures
released Tuesday are in rough proportion to recent annual reports from the nonprofit NLEOMF, which says that in 15 of the past 20 years, traffic-related incidents have been the leading cause of death for officers killed in the line of duty.