John E. Braun, a 29-year-old male patrolman with the Schofield Police Department in Wisconsin, died on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1979, after a tragic accident involving his service weapon. Braun was attempting to repair the firearm when it unexpectedly discharged. The gunshot proved fatal. Law-enforcement memorial records classify his death as an accidental discharge and list the cause as inadvertent gunfire.
Braun's death was therefore not the result of an attack by a suspect or an encounter with a criminal. Available accounts describe the shooting as occurring while he was working on his own service weapon rather than while making an arrest, conducting a traffic stop, or confronting another person. His death occurred on a Monday, Christmas Eve, and became his recorded end of watch with the Schofield Police Department in Marathon County.
Before serving as a police officer, Braun had served in the United States Army and was a veteran of the Vietnam War. His death left behind his wife as well as his parents, a brother, and a sister. He has since been memorialized among Wisconsin law-enforcement officers who died in connection with their service, with his name appearing on the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Memorial's list of fallen officers.
Because investigators and memorial records characterized the shooting as accidental, there is no identified suspect in Braun's death and no indication that another person was arrested or charged. There are likewise no reported criminal proceedings, trial, or conviction connected with the shooting. The available historical record instead describes John Braun's death as a fatal, unintended discharge of his service weapon while he was attempting to repair it.
