Lieutenant Leroy Palmer succumbed to complications of a gunshot wound sustained on February 13th, 1998, while conducting a narcotics operation near the intersection of Bank Street and Boyd Street in East Camden.
As he and other officers attempted to arrest a subject the man pulled out a gun opened fire. Lieutenant Palmer suffered a serious wound that left him paralyzed. A New Jersey State Police trooper and a Camden County detective were also wounded before the subject was killed when officers returned fire.
Lieutenant Palmer is survived by his wife, son, daughter, grandchildren, and two brothers.