John Thomas McCracken

Died

:

8 April 1977

Age

:

22

Rank

:

Constable

Force

:

Royal Ulster Constabulary

Cause

:

Homicide - Shot

Duty Status

:

On Duty

Roll of Honour Citation

Fatally shot, alongside a colleague, by terrorists in a car they had stopped while on mobile patrol.

Constable McCracken and Constable Kenneth William Sheehan were on mobile on the Moneymore Road at Gortagilly, County Londonderry, accompanied by two other Constables, when they decided to check a suspicious car.

As Constables McCracken and Sheehan approached the vehicle, the occupants opened fire with high velocity weapons at close range, killing both men.

A third Constable, although wounded, returned fire and the terrorists panicked and drove off but got bogged down in a ditch. They then run off into the fields. The Constable who returned fire was later awarded the George Medal.