Sheriff John Horch walked along with deputies, officers from neighboring agencies, law enforcement families and friends to honor the memory of Sgt. Brown

Leah Anaya
For Clark County Today

Sunday (July 23, 2023) marked the two-year anniversary of the death of Clark County Sergeant Detective Jeremy Brown. The date was commemorated by a downtown walk along the waterfront hosted by Sgt. Brown’s wife, Jill, and the rest of the Brown family. 

First responders, along with their families and friends, gathered at Fort Vancouver to start the walk, many donned in memorial Sgt. Brown or other thin blue line/pro-police T-shirts. Children carried blue balloons as they made their way to the waterfront, where a mile-long blue ribbon was held by volunteers (including this reporter) to mark the path. 

Clark County Sheriff John Horch and his wife Michelle worked beforehand to be sure the path was marked and the ribbon held high so that it would look its best when Jill and her closest family and friends walked by it. Sheriff and Mrs. Horch then walked along with deputies, officers from neighboring agencies, law enforcement families and friends, and, of course, the Brown family, to honor the memory of Sgt. Brown. 

Many onlookers of the event expressed their gratitude to volunteers for Sgt. Brown’s service and the service of law enforcement in general. Also in attendance were 18th Legislative District Rep. Stephanie McClintock, Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle, Camas City Council Member and Third Congressional District candidate Leslie Lewallen, and former Clark County Council candidate Kim Hamlik.

Sgt. Brown was killed on July 23, 2021, shot while sitting in his unmarked police vehicle conducting surveillance in Vancouver as a part of his assignment with the Clark-Vancouver Drug Task Force. Detectives were investigating the theft of approximately 30 firearms, along with thousands of rounds of ammunition, ID cards, credit cards, and more at an apartment complex.

Two suspects in connection with the shooting were arrested soon after the incident, while the actual shooter was arrested two days later by the United States Marshals in Salem, Oregon. Courts for the suspects are scheduled for September, October, and November of this year.

Sgt. Brown was 46 years old. Before his 15 years with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, he served with the Washington State Department of Corrections and the Missoula County, Montana, Sheriff’s Office. He was a United States Marine before that. He was survived by his wife, Jill, and five children.