White/Caucasian male John Kevin Lamm, age 26, was a Fairbanks Police Department patrol officer who was killed on January 1, 1998, after responding with two fellow officers to a call about a reportedly suicidal man at 2218 Mercier Avenue in Fairbanks, Alaska. As Officers Lamm, Matthew Soden, and Charles Williams III attempted contact and then made entry, the occupant, identified as Joey DeWolf, opened fire from an ambush position with an AR-15–style rifle converted to 7.62×39, striking
Officer Soden in the head and forcing a desperate fight for survival inside the residence. Lamm took cover behind a couch and returned fire to draw the gunman's attention and protect his partners.
In the exchange that followed, DeWolf fired multiple volleys—city records state 18 rounds initially and 13 more directed at Lamm—while Lamm returned 10 rounds, hitting the gunman three times. Officer Williams shepherded a woman from the stairwell to safety as Soden, wounded a second time in the arm, struggled to escape. Lamm, still in the fatal funnel, absorbed five hits, four of them mortal, while buying the time his partners needed to get out. A 90-minute standoff ensued; when a tactical team finally entered, they found the suspect dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. No arrests were made because the gunman died at the scene.
Lamm had served three years with the department and had married only twelve days before he was killed; he left behind his wife, a young son, his parents, and two brothers. The department's memorial records emphasize that he chose not to flee, instead holding his ground to shield his wounded partner and save both men's lives, a choice that cost the 26-year-old officer his own.
