Members of the Alexandria Police Department Special Operations team join with Audrey, Eleanor and Laila Hill, seated, granddaughters of the late Corporal Charles Hill, at the annual park cleanup March 22 in Del Ray.
“Every year on March 22, the Special Operations team comes out to honor Charlie and his family for his sacrifice,” said SWAT team commander Lt. Jason Story. “Charlie was killed on March 22, 1989, in the line of duty saving hostages, which is remarkable. We’re here to remember and honor him.”
March 22, 1989, began as a routine workday for Hill and his family. A member of the Special Operations Team with the APD, Hill was home early playing with his two sons when he was called to respond to a hostage situation in Old Town. During the standoff, Hill was fatally shot, becoming the last APD officer to be killed in the line of duty.
Thirty-four years later, members of the law enforcement community turned out for the annual clean up and beautification of the Del Ray park named in Hill’s memory.
A 13-year-member of the Alexandria police force, Hill was killed when 34-year-old Jamie Wise had taken several hostages in the 300 block of Hopkins Court to collect on a drug debt.
After a five-hour standoff, Wise emerged with a sawed-off shotgun pointed at the head of a teenage hostage. A police sharpshooter shot Wise but not before he was able to fire off two rounds. One fatally wounded Hill and the other severely injured Hill's partner, officer Andrew Chelchowski.
Just one month earlier, Hill had celebrated his 40th birthday. In 1993, Chelchowski, Hill’s partner that day, died of suicide after suffering from PTSD from the incident four years earlier.
Added Story, “It means a lot for the community to come out and remember Charlie’s sacrifice.”